A Gentle Reminder
by Ms. Redd
Summary: Rachel and Finn have their dream life, but for some reason things are falling apart. What, or who, will help them pick up the pieces? Futurefic
1. Chapter 1

"What's happened to us Finn?" The tracks from Rachel's tears were still drying on her cheeks. She sat on the couch studying her hands as she picked at her nails. Finn was only a few feet away, sitting with his head in his hands in the chair across their small living room, but she felt as if she could have been talking to someone on the other side of the planet.

"Come on Rachel," he lifted his head to stare blankly ahead of him and sighed deeply. "This is ridiculous, you're being overly dramatic. There's nothing …"

"See, that's what I'm talking about!" she cut him off. "You never used to patronize me like that. And I know I've been much more _ridiculous_ and _dramatic_ and even demanding in the past than I am right now. I'm actually being pretty rational right now. And yet you can't bring yourself support or even indulge me just a little bit. When did that happen?"

"Look, Rachel, I just got home from work. It's been a long day." Finn tried to get her to stop talking, just for a little while.

"Exactly. You _just_ got home, even though the store closed …" she looked down at her watch, "over two hours ago. I suppose that would make for a long day. But Finn, look, I'm not trying to fight with you. I don't want that at all. I just want to talk to my husband, who just got home, and I have to be at the theater in 20 minutes." Rachel sighed, considering just dropping the whole conversation and going to work. But she refused to give up on this, she had been wanting to have this conversation for longer than she could recall at the moment. "We used to be each other's whole world. Do you remember that? And yeah, ok, sometimes it was a bit much, I think I spent more time with you my senior year of high school than I did with my dads. But you know what, here we are, in New York, both college graduates, you run your own business and I am in an actual, honest-to-God Broadway show. An ensemble show, but still. We're doing it! So obviously we didn't hurt anything by being so wrapped up in one another." Finn hadn't moved from his seat in the recliner, his head falling back against the headrest and his eyes closed in exasperation. Knowing that it was pointless to expect much at the moment, Rachel crossed the room to get her jacket and purse from the hooks hanging near the door of the apartment. "Look Finn, like I already said, I don't want to fight. And I'm not blaming you. I just want my husband back."

Before he could respond, or even open his eyes, Finn heard the apartment door open then close almost immediately. He leaned forward to prop his elbows on his knees and dropped his head back into his hands. He knew she wasn't wrong. There had been several nights over the past weeks when he had lain in their bed staring at the ceiling, missing having her body curled into his the way it used to. He didn't really know why he had dismissed her and accused her of being dramatic. He just didn't want to talk about it, like if he pretended there were no problems, then there really weren't. But he knew she wasn't going to let him pretend any more. "What now?" he grumbled as he felt his cell phone vibrate in his hip pocket.

"Hey man, what's up?" Finn tried to relax his voice, not wanting his friend to hear his stress over the phone.

"Dude! You ready to tear it up next week?

"Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah. We're both really excited for your visit. It'll be great to have you here." Finn hated that he was lying to someone close to him for the second time in about 10 minutes, but he was so distracted by what was going on with Rachel that he could barely even register his phone conversation. And he wasn't _not _excited for the visit, he just wasn't really thinking about it at the moment.

"I can't wait, dude. It's going to be great to get out of town, change of scenery and all. And I'm stoked to hang out with you and your girl again. It's been too long."

"Yeah, totally. We really are looking forward to seeing you." Finn felt bad, he really was looking forward to their friend's visit but he knew he didn't sound very convincing. He just couldn't keep his mind off of Rachel and the hurt on her face when he had walked in the door that evening. "Hey Puck, can I talk to you about something?"

"Yeah man, shoot."

~.~.~.~.~.~

Puck sighed and shook his head. "What the hell?" he muttered at his now-dark cell phone. He was having a really hard time wrapping his mind around what he had just heard. Finn wasn't exactly a bad ass like himself, but Puck was still pretty shocked at the way Finn's voice had changed and he seemed to lose all his energy when he began laying out what had been going on over the past months. How had Puck not known? He talked to at least one of the Hudsons on a regular basis, even though they were half-way across the country. It was easier to understand how he had never gotten wind of the issues from Finn; they always had typical "guy talks." What he didn't understand was how it had gotten past him during all of his conversations with Rachel. She was a girl, and a very emotional, often dramatic one at that. He was actually kind of annoyed with both of them for not bringing him in the loop until now. And the next time he talked to Rachel, girl was getting an earful.

At least Finn had a plan. It wasn't the best plan in the world, but just the fact that he had bothered to make one at all made Puck feel somewhat better. And apparently he had been working on it for a while, long before he had thought things were serious enough to bring them up with his best friend. That was another good sign. As long as they weren't giving up – and based on what Finn had told him about Rachel's attempt at a confrontation earlier that night and what he already knew about Rachel, she definitely wasn't giving up – he had faith that things would be ok.

At a couple different points during his conversation with Finn, Puck had wondered if maybe his friend was hoping he would cancel his visit in little over a week. The thought crossed his mind that maybe that was why Finn had brought the whole situation up in the first place. Well, if that's what Finn wanted, that was just too damn bad. There was no way in hell that he was going to just sit back in Ohio and let things fall apart. He didn't trust his two hard-headed friends to not screw this up, so in 10 days he would show up and give them both the push necessary to get themselves back in order.


	2. Chapter 2

"No. No no no, Rachel. Not happening. Absolutely not." Puck honestly could not believe Rachel actually expected him to do that.

He had planned to lay into her for not telling him about what was going on between her and Finn, but when she had called him the previous afternoon, something in her voice stopped him. She had proceeded to tell him pretty much everything Finn had told him a few days before, adding her own feelings and insights at times. Hearing her side of the story, not that there were sides really, there wasn't even an actual fight, completed the picture in his mind of what was happening to his two best friends.

"But Noah," Rachel began, pleading.

"Look Rachel, I get what you're trying to do here, and I support it, but this is where I draw the line."

"Noah, you promised to help me!"

"And I will help you Rachel. I'll sit here with my guitar and put my phone on speaker and play this song a million times. But I am _not_ singing with you. That's just … not right."

"Oh Noah, don't be so immature. We've sung together a hundred times. It's my _job _for goodness sake."

"Yeah, but this is different. This is a duet, a very _intimate_ duet. I won't do it." Puck sighed, exasperated. Rachel was smart, she should understand this, but she was also hard-headed. When she didn't want to get something through her head, she just didn't.

"Oh Noah, the song isn't about sex, there's nothing dirty about it. And besides, what about 'Need You Now,' we did that duet together, and it's about a couple of exes getting drunk and wanting to hook up!"

Puck was glad they were talking on the phone and she couldn't see him roll his eyes at her. "First off, 'Need You Now' was a long time ago, and that was different. That was a popular song at the time, and besides, you only asked me to sing it with you to make Finn jealous," Rachel blushed when her friend called her out on her manipulation. "But more importantly, I didn't say it was a _dirty _or _sexy_ song. I said it's an _intimate _song. This isn't like some song off the radio or one of your plays Rachel. This song, those words, they're your life, your marriage. There is no way in hell I am going to sit here and sing a song with my best girl friend that was written for her, about her, by her husband. Oh yeah, and said husband just happens to be my best guy friend." Puck paused, waiting for her response. He was expecting a lot more argument, but he refused to give in on this one. "Still there Rachel?"

"Yeah … I'm here," Rachel stammered. Hot tears pricked at her eyes and her faced burned with embarrassment. Noah was completely right. Now that he had pointed it out to her, she felt that she had betrayed Finn by even thinking about singing that song with another man. She had just wanted to rehearse, to make sure that the song would be perfect, but she reminded herself that her constant need for perfection was one of the reasons she was in this mess in the first place. If she spent more time at home and less time practicing for one thing or another, she wouldn't be begging Noah to help her put her marriage back together. She sniffed and pulled herself back together. "You're right Noah, I'm sorry. It was completely inappropriate for me to ask you to sing with me. I truly appreciate whatever help you're willing to give me."

"You're my best friends Rachel, I'll do whatever I can to help you guys. So, why don't I just play through once and you just listen, maybe read over the words on your end." Puck set his cell phone to speaker and plucked out the notes of the song Rachel had sent him yesterday.

"Noah, wow, that was, well that was great. I mean, since yesterday, great job." Puck smirked to himself, making sure not to let Rachel hear him scoff. She didn't know that her husband had sent him the same song three days before, and he'd been working on perfecting it since. "Umm, ok then. Well, obviously I have to sing the first lines." Rachel moved on quickly to laying out her plan.

"No, the first lines are his. I mean, just, those lyrics. It needs to be him," Puck contradicted Rachel, knowing it wasn't the safest move to make. Still, he knew the song and he knew his friend, and Finn would want to sing those words to her. "In fact, you should let him have the whole first verse, and just come in for the back-up hook." He could imagine her face when he said the words 'back-up.' "Just imagine," he began, already working on damage control, "how good the contrast of your voice will sound under his."

Rachel had balked when she heard 'back-up,' but she had to admit he was right about the way it would sound. She still wasn't sure, though. "But, well, how will he know what to do? If I don't lead in, I mean."

"Dude's gonna know his own song, Rach. Come on, give him a little credit."

"I know he's not an idiot, Noah!" Rachel snapped at him. She knew a lot of people, especially people they had gone to high school with, thought Finn was a little dim, but she had never been one of them. He was just naïve, and innocent, and she loved him even more for it, and she didn't appreciate her friend insinuating otherwise.

"Geez Berry, chill. It was a joke, I didn't mean anything by it. No need to go all crazy on me."

"Hudson," she grumbled quietly.

"What?" Puck asked. One minute she was practically screaming at him and the next she was talking so low he could hardly hear her. Why was he friends with this girl again? She was totally crazy half the time.

"I said," she started, sounding slightly defeated, "my name isn't Berry, it's Hudson." Puck realized his mistake. He had called her Berry plenty of times, even since she had married his best friend, but he should have known that using her maiden name under the circumstances would be upsetting to her.

"You're right, I'm sorry. Habit I guess," he thought he heard her mumble something that sounded like 'it's ok.' "Look Rachel, you know he loves you, right? I mean, he really loves you, you're his life."

"I don't know, I guess so," she sounded so broken, much like Finn had sounded before. "It's just so hard now. I never would have imagined us like this. And we can't even sit down and talk about it, because we both work long, weird hours, and then when his work day is over and he's closed the store, he still doesn't come home for another two hours or more. I don't know how to take that."

"Oh God Rachel, please don't tell me you think he's cheating on you." Puck had tensed at what it seemed she may have been suggesting. He knew better. She knew better. Right? She had to know better.

"No! That's not what I was thinking at all." Rachel gasped, shocked that he would even mention such a thing. "Why? Has he said something to you? Do you know something Noah?" She had started pacing the room and her hands were shaking. That thought really had never even crossed her mind, Finn was the most honest person she knew, but if her friend was bringing it up, did that mean something?

Puck instantly regretted his question. It really didn't seem that Rachel had even considered the idea, and now he had put it into her head. '_Me and my stupid ass mouth_,' he cursed himself silently. "No Rachel, he hasn't said anything. And he never will say anything to me about cheating on you, because he never will cheat on you. Please tell me you get that."

"I do, I get that. He's too decent a person to cheat. But …" she hesitated, not sure about what she was getting ready to say. "Sometimes I think that might be easier. I mean, at least I would understand it." Puck smacked his forehead with his hand. Seriously, someone remind him why he was friends with her again. Girl was straight-up bat shit crazy.

"Are we really having this conversation right now? I mean really, cause that is probably one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard."

"I'm completely serious right now Noah. I would actually be able to understand if he were cheating on me. If he found some other girl, one who was prettier and better than me, who could make him happier than me, I'd get that." Puck wanted to scream at her. He wanted to yell that Finn thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world, that the last time he had talked to his friend all he could talk about was how happy she made him and how awful he felt for making her upset. But that wasn't his place. "But I don't get why he would rather sit in an empty store for two hours, doing God knows what, than come home to me. I don't know what I'm doing wrong." Puck could hear the tightness in her voice, the sign that she would start crying again at any second.

"Rachel, come on, you're not doing anything wrong. That's his job, you know. It's _his_ store. He's just … keeping an eye on things, making sure everything stays good." Part of him wanted to agree with her, to tell her that it didn't make sense for Finn to stay at work so much longer than necessary when he had an awesome wife at home waiting for him. But he felt like he would be breaking some bro-code or something by betraying his boy like that. He needed to change the subject, to get back on track before he crossed a line or said too much. He wanted to help them, to give them the push they needed to get straightened out, but he didn't want to do the work for them. If they didn't do it themselves it wouldn't really fix anything. "Ok, I know you don't have a lot of time before you have to get to the theater, and we should get this whole song thing figured out. We decided Finn should do the first verse and then you'll come in with the back-up. I think it would be good if you take the next verse. Just jump right in and hopefully he'll get the hint and let you take it from there. You two have sung together plenty of times, he should be able to follow your lead." Puck played the song a few more times with Rachel working out the arrangement, feverishly making notes on her copy of the music. Puck also suggested that although the song didn't sound bad as an acoustic, it might sound better, fuller, with a drum to hold up the beat. She hadn't thought of percussion before then, but agreed with him and said she would talk to a musician friend of hers that night at work. She just always associated the drums with Finn, it hadn't occurred to her that she should find someone to play the drums on his song.

"Thank you so much Noah. You have no idea what your help means to me."

"Hey, what are friends for? Besides, I kind of like feeling like I'm better at something than you," he laughed, enjoying his friend's improved mood. She was so easy to tease.

"Don't push it, mister," Rachel tried to sound stern, but she really was grateful. "I'll see you in a week. Call me if you need anything or plans change or anything. Thanks again."

~.~.~.~.~.~

Puck dropped his phone onto the bed and quickly followed it. He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes and exhaled deeply. Sometimes he wanted to grab Rachel and Finn, both of them, and shake them. What the hell were they doing? How could they not realize that they had the best thing he had ever seen? And now they were on the brink of letting it fall apart over what, long hours and insecurities? Hell no, not on his watch. He had considered moving up his trip so that he could get there right away and move this thing along a little faster in case they couldn't handle it on their own. But he should have known Rachel would have a plan, Rachel always had a plan for everything. And her plan was actually better than Finn's. Well, it was more practical at least, and much faster, which Puck considered better, under the circumstances.

Puck didn't talk to anyone about his feelings toward the Hudsons, not even the Hudsons. And he certainly wouldn't admit that they were the reason he never kept a girlfriend, even since graduating high school, when he was supposed to have 'grown up.' Yeah, they were his best friends, and that was part of his need to help them fix things. But there was more to it than that. He had never known a couple like them. Growing up with a single mom and a deadbeat dad, he didn't have high expectations for relationships to begin with. Then as he got older, he watched more couples completely screw up their lives by screwing each other over. And of course, there had been his own interactions with girls, Quinn in particular. Getting his best friend's girlfriend pregnant then working with her to cover up the truth for several months, only to end up estranged from his friend and giving the baby away, was not exactly his best moment.

Then there was Finn and Rachel. They certainly weren't perfect, not by any means. They kept secrets and lied and fought over the most ridiculous things. They even broke up and found other partners a couple times. But through it all, neither of them ever said a bad word about the other, and Rachel was a better person when she was with Finn. She was less annoying and uptight, and nicer, and just better. And Finn was always, even when he was 'with' Quinn, always looking at Rachel with that goofy lopsided grin that only she got out of him. It took a somewhat dysfunctional teenage couple to make Puck believe that maybe sometimes a relationship could work. Then they graduated from high school, and against all odds, made it through a year with her at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts and him at Ohio State. When he transferred to a small college in New York to be with her, their friends started taking bets on how long it would be before she was pregnant and they were both dropping out of school and moving back to Lima. The only thing was, none of that happened. They got married and got an apartment together, and still both graduated college in four years. Rachel had started getting chorus line parts on Broadway before graduation, and Finn took over the music store he had been working at part time, eventually buying the store when his former boss decided to sell and spend his retirement years traveling the country. When the Hudsons came home for their first Christmas out of college, sharing all their good news with their friends and family, Puck realized that they were no longer the dysfunctional teenage couple who had given him hope. They had become an actual adult couple with a life and responsibilities, still completely in love and totally meant for one another.

Puck thought about what the two of them had shared with him over the past three days and he realized that the reason he was so affected by what they were going through was because they were the model couple. Finn and Rachel were meant to be together. Puck couldn't stand the thought that there was a chance that those two, of all people, might not be able to make it. If they couldn't make it work, Puck had no hope of believing there would ever be a chance for him to have a worthwhile relationship.

**Ok, who recognized the line/phrase I borrowed from my favorite Glee guest star (although the line wasn't used on Glee)?**


	3. Chapter 3

"Worst flight ever," Puck grumbled as he dug out his phone to text Rachel and Finn, separately, that he had boarded after his layover in Chicago and should be on time. Finn was picking him up at the airport, and he didn't want his friend to get caught up at work and be late. According to Rachel, that was quite a problem lately. And Rachel had threatened him with bodily harm if he didn't keep her updated on his "proceedings" (her word, not his). She needed to make sure everything was going as planned, and part of that was keeping tabs on her friend.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Puck turned to the girl who had just dropped into the aisle seat on his left.

"Oh, sorry," he looked a little sheepish. "I said, 'worst flight ever.'"

The blonde laughed. "We just boarded. The flight hasn't even started. How can it be the worst ever?"

"We may have just boarded this one, but I already spent an hour on one from Toledo, then almost two hours in that God-awful airport. I guess you could say I'm using my _deductive reasoning_ skills," he scoffed.

The girl giggled. "Well, maybe I can help with that." She crossed one long, mini-skirt clad leg over the other and shifted toward him. "Buy you a drink? I mean, I know it will be a few minutes before the flight attendant comes through, but when she does I'd be happy to buy you a drink." She smiled at him and dropped her arm onto the armrest between them, her fingers dipping dangerously close to his lap. The girl was hot, and she was obviously flirting with him. But for probably the first time in his life, Puck didn't notice.

"No thanks. Not drinking today. Excuse me," he nudged her hand away with his elbow as he reached for his seat belt. A drink would definitely have made the flight more bearable, but he needed to make sure he was on top of his game when he got to New York. He couldn't afford to risk it with alcohol. His new neighbor blinked away her disappointment. She wasn't used to receiving such a cold reception from guys.

"Natalie Gilbert," she stuck out her hand just in front of his chest.

"Huh? Oh, Noah Puckerman." He shook her hand absent-mindedly and continued staring straight ahead.

"Well, very nice to meet you, Noah," she squeezed his hand gently and flashed him a million-watt smile. She had already noticed that he wasn't wearing a ring, and he didn't have a tan line from a missing ring, so she wasn't giving up on this one. She was planning to have fun in New York, and Noah Puckerman looked like fun.

"Puck. Everyone calls me Puck." _'Well, not everyone,'_ he thought, but there were only two people in the world who called him "Noah" – one was his mom and the other was his best friend, and this girl was no Rachel (Berry) Hudson. And speaking of Rachel, she was the reason that he hadn't noticed the leggy blonde practically throwing herself in his lap. It wasn't that he wanted Rachel, he actually shuddered at that thought, but he couldn't keep his mind off her and Finn.

"Ok then _Puck_, what takes you to New York? Business," she shifted toward him again causing her dangling foot to brush his shin, "or pleasure?"

"Well, it was supposed to be pleasure, but about a week and a half ago it became business," he sighed and shifted uncomfortably close to the window. He didn't know why this girl kept insisting on touching, or almost touching, him. She looked at him quizzically, "I'm going to visit my best friends," he said, as if that explained everything.

"Well then, what's the business?" She withdrew from him a bit, seeming to get the clue that he wasn't interested.

He snorted, "They are." She laughed lightly and continued looking at him, with a little less lust and a little more interest in her eyes. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and, seeing that she was still paying attention to him, continued. "They're married, to each other I mean," the girl tried to stifle a laugh. "But last week I called to talk to him about this _awesome vacation_ and he dumped all this stuff on me about all these problems they've been having. Then a couple days later she called me and did the same thing, begging for my help. Man that girl can cry." He slumped into his seat a little and the girl laughed, sincerely this time.

"Well, you're a good friend, doing this for them." She straightened in her seat but kept her eyes on Puck.

"Thanks, I try," he said sarcastically. "But it's more than that," the words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them. He didn't talk to people about Finn and Rachel, not like that. He thought it would make him look like a weirdo, or at best a pussy. But he knew he would never see this girl again after he got off the plane and all this Finchel shit was buzzing around in his head threatening to make it explode. "Yeah, they're my best friends and I care about them and all that crap, but more importantly they are made for each other. They're meant to be together and here they are calling and crying to me because she's upset about him staying at work a lot longer than necessary and she thinks it means he doesn't want to be around her anymore. And he stays at work because he's insecure because any day now she's gonna bust out and become this huge Broadway star – she's just about to finish up her first run with an actual role in a show, it's an ensemble or whatever so she's not the "star" but it's still pretty awesome." A small smile tugged at his lips as he thought about his friend's success, and his neighbor's eyes widened as she nodded slightly, impressed. "But anyway, the point is he's insecure about it because he's always thought she was too good for him and now she's about to prove it, in his mind anyway. So, he just stays at work long after his store is closed doing all this stupid trivial shit trying to make everything there perfect because he thinks it's the only thing he can control and maybe if his store is perfect he'll be good enough for his perfect wife." Puck let out a long breath he didn't realize he had been holding in. It actually felt good to get that stuff out there. He didn't have anyone he could talk to about it, and it had really been bothering him.

Natalie seemed to have forgotten that she was supposed to be impressing him, because she uncrossed her legs and tugged her skirt toward her knees. "I know it sucks because they are your best friends, but maybe it's just time for them to split up. These things happen." She sounded apologetic.

"No, you don't get it. They're _meant to be together._" Puck was starting to get annoyed, why was he talking to this girl?

"Unless they aren't," she said it quietly.

Puck rolled his eyes. She was slower than Finn himself. "Look, ok, I'm not going to have this argument with you. I know these two. They are each other's match. If they can't make it work, the rest of us should just give up now."

"Why?" Natalie asked. He looked at her, confused as to what she was asking. "Why are they meant for each other?" She said slowly. Puck laughed. He wasn't sure he could even begin to explain the force of nature that was Finchel (Rachel hated the nickname, and Finn said it made him hungry for dessert, but Puck actually thought it was kind of cute). He was going to just let the question roll off his shoulders, thinking it was rhetorical, but Natalie was still looking at him expectantly.

"You sure you wanna hear this? It's kind of a long story," Puck looked at her with raised eyebrows and she just shrugged.

"We've got two hours, and I already finished my magazine."

Puck exhaled deeply. "Ok, but I warned you," Natalie laughed as he started his story. "So, Finn I have been boys for, well pretty much forever. We grew up together, we played sports together, we dated cheerleaders together, we did everything together. And then, sophomore year of high school, Rachel Berry comes along."

"Did she come between you?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Puck said, wincing as he remembered Finn standing over him in the choir room throwing one punch after another and screaming at him as all the glee girls cried behind them, Quinn loudest of all. "But it wasn't her fault. And it wasn't like we were fighting over her; no way I'm dealing with that mess. Rachel's loud and obnoxious and she sometimes makes me want to light myself on fire. Come to think of it, Finn probably deserves a medal." He noticed that Natalie was staring at him wide-eyed, obviously wondering how he could call this girl one of his best friends then say these things about her. "Don't get me wrong, she's an awesome person, the best friend you could ever ask for. When Rachel's on your side, you feel like you can pretty much get or do anything you want." Puck laughed in spite of himself. "You should have seen her once, this little 5'2" ball of attitude bullying a restaurant owner into giving a supposedly wheelchair-bound Finn a job so he could support his pregnant girlfriend – not pregnant by him, as it turned out – even though she was secretly in love with him." Natalie stared at him with wide eyes and he rubbed the back of his neck out of embarrassment. "So anyway, you can't really say it was Rachel's fault what happened between me and Finn. I take full blame for that one. The whole situation was like a firecracker just waiting to be lit – all the explosives and everything were already there, she just provided the spark." Puck looked down, hoping Natalie wouldn't put all the pieces together, but from the look on her face she was well on her way. He still knew he was a shitty friend back then.

"But in the long run, Rachel ended up being the one who kind of got us to be friends again, and she became my friend in the process. True, we did kind of have a couple _things_ here and there, but she only ever did it to get Finn's attention, she was in love with him from day one. That's really the only reason I did it too. I saw the way he looked at her, I heard the way his voice changed when he, or anyone else, talked about her. I made it my personal duty as a recovering friend to help him figure out what the rest of us already knew." Puck stopped, as if that were the end of the story.

"So?" Natalie asked impatiently.

"So what?"

"So, obviously they got together at some point, they're married, but did you succeed in getting them together?" Normally Puck would have used the girl's interest in his "good deeds" to get her interested in other parts of him. But today he wasn't Puck: womanizer, he was Noah: best friend to Finn and Rachel Hudson.

"Well, I guess I gave him a little push the last time – there were a couple failed attempts in between – but I don't think I can take much credit for it. I'm chalking this one up to them just being made for each other. Oh! Another example," Puck burst out, as if it were crazy that this stranger wouldn't just take his word for it, "when our glee club made it to nationals and only finished twelfth after he kissed her on stage in some grand gesture to show her how much he loved her, our teammates blamed him for it, telling him all summer how he made us lose, and he would only shrug and say, 'I won.' He did that even when Rachel wasn't around." He sighed and sat back in his seat, satisfied that he had proven his point.

"I get it, they were high school sweethearts. It's cute, but it doesn't prove anything." Puck rolled his eyes and inwardly cursed himself for even getting into this with some stranger on a plane.

"Fine. Exhibit B: It was the end of our freshman year at Ohio State, and I'm not sure if people were more shocked that he got in, or that I did. Finn's my boy, and he's a great guy, but he's got a thing or two loose," Puck tapped his temple with his index finger. "And I wasn't even going to apply for college, but Rachel threatened bodily harm if I didn't 'apply myself' because I was 'too good to be a Lima loser.'" He spoke with air quotes and a squeaky voice, causing Natalie to laugh. "Rachel was already at NYU, that girl was made for that city."

_Puck was accosted by Finn as soon as he walked through the door of their shared dorm room. "I got in! I got in Puck!" Finn was waving a piece of paper in his face._

"_That's awesome dude! Did you tell Rachel yet? How loud did she scream? I'm surprised I didn't hear her from the hall. She's probably been waiting even more anxiously than you, if that's possible."_

"_Umm, yeah, about that," Finn rubbed the back of his neck. _

"_You're kidding me! You haven't even told her you applied?" Puck was screaming at his roommate as if he had just killed his dog. _

"_Well, I didn't want to tell her and get her all excited, then get her all upset if I didn't get in. Besides, it's just community college."_

"_Yeah, community college. Community college in New York, where Rachel is! And besides, with the credits you've already earned here, it will probably only be another year before you can upgrade. You gotta tell her dude. If you don't, I will." Puck paused and a smirk grew on his face. "In fact, yeah, just let me do it. I could totally use the brownie points after that incident with the girl in her dorm room when we went to see her in that play last month."_

"_No, it's too late now. We'll all be home in a couple days and now I really want to wait and tell her in person. I can't wait to see her face," Finn drifted off and did that goofy moon-eyed thing he did when he thought about Rachel._

_Puck dropped his book bag on his bed. "Alright, come on then."_

"_Where are we going?"_

"_Well, you can't just give her that piece of paper," Puck flung his hand in Finn's general direction. "You gotta make it special. We're going to that craft store just off campus that sorority bitch dragged me to last semester. So not what I had in mind when she started talking about a paddle." Puck grumbled the last sentence, he hated it when his penis got him into situations like that._

"_Ooh, there's the framing counter," Finn announced almost as soon as they had entered the store. He made his way determinedly toward the counter where the associate would put his letter in a nice frame with a fancy mat and everything. _

"_Dude, this is Rachel, you can't just pick some generic wooden frame and go with it."_

"_I was gonna get gold," Finn pouted._

"_Gross. No. Come on," Puck dragged him toward the aisle where the sorority girl had picked up all those little wooden charms and stuff. "You're gonna do this Rachel-style. Handmade." Puck smirked at his friend._

"_You're kidding, right?"_

"_Nope. Here's a start," Puck handed Finn a plain wooden frame big enough to hold his acceptance letter._

"_How is this better than what that lady would have made for me?" Finn turned the light frame over in his hands. Puck rolled his eyes, clearly exasperated._

"_Well you're not gonna give it to her like that. That's what all this stuff is for," Puck gestured at the little wooden letters and charms in the shape of animals and hearts and stars and other things. "You'll paint it too." He moved toward the letters and absent-mindedly stuck his fingers in the container and twirled them around. "Ok, if you ever tell anyone I suggested this, I'll deny it then kick your ass, but you totally have to spell out 'Faithfully.' No! 'Forever Yours.'"_

_Finn smiled cryptically and slowly shook his head. Puck cocked an eyebrow at him. "Cause being apart ain't easy on this love affair." Finn smiled proudly at his ingenuity (of course, that's not the word he used in his mind, he didn't exactly know that word). Puck nodded at his friend, maybe there was more going on in that head than Puck gave him credit for._

"_You're gonna have a hard time making all those little letters fit," he smirked._

_Finn only shrugged. "So I'll write it. Or paint it on."_

_Puck laughed, "She has to be able to read it, you know."_

"_They gotta have stencils in this place somewhere, right? Now, help me pick some of these little charm things that look like Rachel. The stars of course. I'll paint them gold …" Puck pretty much stopped listening after that. _

_Three days later Puck was pulling up to Rachel's front door in Lima with Finn freaking out in the passenger seat. "Alright man, go get her." Puck punched his friend playfully on the arm._

"_Wait, you're coming too," Finn tried to make it the statement sound like a simple matter of fact, but Puck could hear the nerves dripping from his friend's voice. "I mean, this is a little bit your gift too," Finn nudged the pink gift bag between them with his elbow. "You helped me with all the applications and made me look way better than I really am," Puck laughed at his friend's admission. "And you really helped with the frame. If it hadn't been for you, I would just be handing her the original envelope." Finn paused for a moment, "And more importantly, you know Rachel will kill you if you leave without saying 'hi' to her after going out of your way to bring me here." Finn smirked at his friend, knowing he had hit a nerve. Rachel was probably the only person in the world Puck was afraid of, even if he would never admit it. _

"_Fine," Puck grumbled. "Let's just get this over with. I got places to be." Finn rolled his eyes. He knew that no matter how bad ass Puck pretended to be, there really was no one he would rather see upon first getting back into town than Rachel. _

_Rachel must have been waiting just inside for the sound of their doors closing, because the boys hadn't made it three steps toward the house before Rachel was bounding down the front steps and across the driveway. "Ah! How are my two favorite boys?" She gave Puck a quick hug before addressing her boyfriend directly, which would have probably bothered most guys, but Finn knew that Puck really was both of their best friend. And of course, the blow was further softened when she launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck and wrapping her legs around his waist. He laughed as she planted noisy kisses all over his face. When she finally settled on his lips for a long, deep kiss, Puck rolled his eyes and moved toward the house._

"_I'll just let myself in. I've seen this show plenty of times, I don't need an encore." _

"_Hey you," Rachel quietly said to Finn with a smile, needing to stop for a breath._

"_Hey back," Finn answered, resting his forehead against hers. He kissed her once on the nose and Rachel giggled. "We better get inside before he does something totally Puck-like, like emptying your dads' liquor cabinet._

"_Why I would never!" Puck called in mock horror from the front porch. His friends laughed as he stared at them open-mouthed. Rachel pecked Finn once more on the lips and patted his shoulders, her signal for him to let her down. When he returned her to the ground, the gift bag she hadn't noticed up to that point brushed her arm. _

"_What's that?" she asked. Her eyes were hopeful, but she tried to keep the excitement out of her voice. That girl loved surprises more than anyone either of the boys had ever known. The bag could hold something as simple as a piece of candy from the gas station down the street, and she would have acted like you had just given her a diamond bracelet. Finn glanced up at Puck, who smiled at him encouragingly._

"_Why don't we go inside?" Finn took her hand and led her to the house, where Puck was already making his way to the living room. By the time the couple joined him, Puck was already sprawled on the couch flipping through the television channels. Finn guided Rachel to her dad's easy chair, standing in front of her clutching the gift bag nervously. "Just think of this as a little, congratulations-on-finishing-a-year-at-NYU-and-even-landing-the-lead-role-in-Annie-as-a-freshman gift."_

"_Oh sweetie, you didn't have to! And besides, you already gave me a congratulations gift when you guys came to opening night last month," Rachel wiggled her hand in front of her face to display the charm bracelet he had given her._

"_Ok, fine. Then it's a we-survived-our-year-at-colleges-halfway-across-the-country present." Finn handed the bag to his eagerly waiting girlfriend. _

"_The first of several," she answered sadly, taking the bag from him. Puck faked a cough to cover his laughter. "Are you ok Noah?" Rachel peered around Finn to see her friend. _

"_He's fine," Finn shot Puck a look and when Rachel turned her attention to pulling the tissue paper out of the gift bag Puck wiggled his eyebrows at his friend. When he turned back to his girlfriend, Finn saw that she was holding the blue, gold-star covered picture frame and staring at it blankly. He wasn't sure how to respond, that wasn't the reaction he had expected._

"_Finn, what … what is this?" She still hadn't looked up._

"_It's an acceptance letter," Finn answered sheepishly. Puck had sat up on the couch and was studying his friends. He was pretty sure he had never seen Rachel Berry speechless. "I'm going to New York."_

"_You're going to New York?" Rachel had finally looked up at him, her eyes pleading for him not to be joking._

"_With you." That goofy half-smile was spreading across his face._

"_With me!" Rachel jumped up so that she was standing in the chair. She flung her arms around his neck and buried his face in his shoulder._

"_Oomph," he grunted when the frame she still clutched in her tiny hand smacked him on the back, never letting the smile leave his face. Puck walked across the room, laughing and shaking his head, and took the frame from Rachel. No way in Hell was he going to let his trip to that stupid craft store turn into a pile of splinters on the floor because she dropped it and big clumsy Finn stepped on it._

"_You're really coming with me?" Rachel was mumbling into Finn's neck so that Puck couldn't even understand what she was saying. _

"_I'm really coming babe. I can't handle this crap anymore. Miss you too much. _Need_ you too much." Rachel had climbed down from the chair and was clutching the front of Finn's shirt. When he said the word 'need' she slipped one arm around his back and started pulling him toward the stairs. Puck rolled his eyes when he saw one of Finn's hands land on the small of her back, quite low on the small of her back, he noticed, and the other hand start playing with her hair. _

"_Goodbye Noah," Rachel mumbled as she backed onto the bottom step and pulled Finn closer to her, meeting his lips with hers._

"_Whatever, have fun." he smirked, already making his way to the front door and setting the frame on the hall table._

"Ok, so your friend's a hopeless romantic," Natalie said when Puck finished his story, "with some weird thing for Journey," she added, shaking her head in apparent confusion. Puck couldn't help but laugh, if she only knew. "But that still doesn't prove fate."

"Hey, I never said fate," Puck snapped at her. He wasn't that much of a pussy, even if he was this into his friends' relationship.

"Ok, fine. It doesn't prove they're _meant to be together._"

"You really wanna hear more? It might give you a toothache," Puck scoffed.

Natalie shrugged, "I'm not convinced yet."


	4. Chapter 4

"Ok, fine. Bet you've never seen a wedding like theirs. We were …"

"Wait, you're not going to tell me about the proposal?" Natalie interrupted.

"Well, you said the romantic stuff alone wasn't enough to convince you. Besides, I wasn't actually there for that one, so even though I've heard the story a million times," Puck rolled his eyes, "it's not my story to tell." Natalie nodded and waited for him to continue his wedding story.

"_Are you sure you got all the buttons Noah?"_

_Puck rolled his eyes and threw his hands into the air. "For the 5,000__th__ time Berry," Rachel giggled and Puck saw Brittany open her mouth to ask why that was funny, but Puck shot her a look even the dizzy blonde knew meant 'don't ask.' The last time Tina asked that question, Rachel explained that in a few hours she wouldn't be 'Berry' anymore and had babbled on for what felt like an hour. "Yes, I got every. Single. Button. Why did I have to do this anyway? Any one of them would have been better at it, and you wouldn't have second-guessed them a thousand times." Puck gestured toward Mercedes, Tina, and Brittany. _

"_Maybe," Rachel conceded, turning to face her friend and straightening his tie. "But you are my mai-" Puck shot her a warning glare, "_man _of honor."_

"_Yeah, what's up with that anyway? Why couldn't I just be best man like any other normal guy?"_

"_Kurt's best man, he's Finn's brother. And besides, you're my best friend," she gave him her best Bambi impression. "It just wouldn't have been the same with anyone else. No offense ladies!" She turned quickly to her girl friends. _

"_It's cool," Mercedes waved her hand flippantly and the other two nodded in agreement. It really was cool. All the glee kids had remained friends since high school, but everyone knew that the three musketeers, or the three stooges, as was often more appropriate, had something different from all the rest of them. They were all just happy to have not lost touch altogether. Puck shot her a look that said 'thanks a lot' and she stuck her tongue out at him._

"_The one upside to this gig," Puck paused when Rachel sent an angry look his way, "other than getting to stand up next to my GORGEOUS best friend of course," Puck kissed the cheek that Rachel pushed his way, "was the thought that I would get to see something in this changing room. So far the only one I've gotten to see even partly naked is you, and that just doesn't count." Puck shuddered._

"_Well thank you so much for such a glowing compliment on my big day," Rachel punched him as hard as she could on the shoulder, which wasn't very hard. He grabbed his arm and stumbled backward a few steps anyway. Their former classmates couldn't help but giggle at their friends' cheeseball behavior._

"_Puckerman! Emergency! I need you now!" Kurt burst into the room, dramatic as always. Puck grew serious and stepped to wrap an arm protectively around Rachel's shoulders as her eyes grew large. Tina and Mercedes looked at each other soberly. Brittany, on the other hand, jumped up and waved giddily at Kurt, obviously not getting the gravity of the situation. Ignoring Brittany, Kurt continued speaking to Puck. "He's freaking out! Finn kicked us all out of the room and won't listen to us. He keeps going on about all the people and how he's going to mess something up and Rachel won't want him anymore. We can't get through to him, you have to come help." The girls all took a step away from Rachel, expecting a complete meltdown, but she only let out a deep breath and rolled her eyes while Puck laughed and dropped his arm from her shoulders._

_Rachel noticed the others looking at her with an expression that could only be described as terror and laughed. "Oh guys, calm down," Rachel waved her hand in the air casually. "We've been through this a hundred times. Both of us. In fact, I've had the last three freak-outs, so he was kind of due."_

"_You freaked out?" Tina asked, incredulous._

"_Oh yeah," Rachel affirmed, smiling. Puck nodded in agreement. "It happens. Marriage is a big thing. And even though I want to marry Finn more than anything in the world, even more than I want Broadway," her face glowed slightly as her friends' jaws dropped at the admission, "it's scary. And I know that he feels exactly the same way, on both counts. I actually expect him to be nervous."_

"_Yeah yeah Rachel, that's sweet and all, but I'm pretty sure he's not scared about the marriage. Just before his freak-out he kept going on and on about how happy you made him and he couldn't wait to spend his life with you, and you were perfect, and _gag me_." Kurt rolled his eyes dramatically. "No, I think he's scared of the actual wedding; the guests and the vows and being the center of attention is what's freaking him out."_

"_Oh," Rachel paused for a minute, appearing to be deep in thought then clapped her hands together excitedly. "Ok then, this is easy! Kurt, you said he kicked everyone out?"_

"_Yeah, me, Sam, Mike, Artie, and Santana," Kurt rattled off the names of the glee members who had been in the groom's dressing room. Somehow noticing the look on Rachel's face when Kurt mentioned Santana, not jealousy, just confusion, Brittany chimed in._

"_She said she might throw up if she had to be a part of this sappy girl fest, so she stole a bottle of Jack Daniels from my parents' liquor cabinet and went to the boys' room." Everyone except Kurt, even Rachel, laughed. It was actually kind of comforting to know that Santana was still the same girl they knew in high school. _

"_Ok, Kurt you need to go find them, we have to have all our glee club. Help him Brittany?" Brittany nodded at the bride. "Mercedes, I need you and Tina to find the Hummels and Mr. Schue and Ms. Pils-Schuester. Wow, that's hard to get used to."_

"_How do you think we feel?" Mercedes asked. "No more Rachel Berry, it's hard to wrap your mind around."_

"_Yeah," Tina agreed. "We all actually kinda thought you'd keep your name. Don't most people in show business do that?"_

_Rachel noticed that all eyes were on her, everyone must have been thinking the same thing as Tina. She shrugged, "Yeah, well, I'm not famous yet, so it's not like it will be confusing. And besides," she smiled sheepishly and lowered her eyes, "I really like the idea of being 'Rachel Hudson.'" Her friends smiled at her. Rachel really was a very sweet person when she wanted to be. "Ok, anyway, Mercedes and Tina, can you just make sure you also round up any glee clubbers that Kurt and Brittany might miss. Bring everyone back here." The girls nodded._

"_Oh," Mercedes turned to her, "what about Mark and Marie and Kelly?" Mercedes inquired about the three members the club had added during Rachel's senior year._

"_No," she shook her head. "I mean, I like them and all, but I just want the original New Directions. But Sam and Lauren are good!" Mercedes nodded and the four friends Rachel had been giving instructions to looked at each other, all hoping someone else would be the one to ask the next question. Finally, Kurt nudged Brittany. They had gotten their orders first and had already started out, so they were closest to the door in case Rachel really flipped out._

"_Um, what about Quinn?" Brittany asked. Quinn had been invited to the wedding, and had shown up. But instead of coming into one of the dressing rooms with the other former glee club members, she had stayed out in the sanctuary with the rest of the guests. It wasn't that she had a problem with the wedding or even with Rachel, in fact she had stayed away out of respect for Rachel. The girls had gotten along much better their senior year of high school than they had up to that point, and they had even formed a tentative friendship. But Quinn still didn't know how Rachel would feel about her being in her dressing room with her on the day she was about to be married to Finn. Quinn knew she had caused both of them a lot of pain, and while she was happy to get to share in their joy, she didn't want to impose._

"_What did I say?" Rachel snapped. "All. Original. New Directions. Members." It was her first bridezilla moment of the whole wedding planning process so they let it go. In fact, they were actually pretty impressed that Rachel Berry, diva extraordinaire, hadn't completely lost it and started treating them all like her lowly slaves. And Brittany, who was on the receiving end of the outburst, didn't even seem to realize that she was being snapped at. She grabbed Kurt's arm and pulled him toward the sanctuary as Mercedes and Tina followed them._

"_So what do I do?" Puck asked once he and Rachel were alone._

"_You go talk to our boy. I'm going to go find my dads." Puck nodded and headed for the room where Finn and the other guys had been getting ready. He had no idea what Rachel was thinking, but he didn't need to for his job. Talking Finn down would be the easy part, he knew how much his friend wanted to marry Rachel, and he knew just how to talk to him._

_After trying, unsuccessfully, for 10 minutes to calm Finn down even a little bit, Puck heard a knock at the door. "Hey. How are my boys doing in there?"_

"_Rachel!" Puck rolled his eyes and threw his hands in the air as Finn freaked out even more, if that was even possible. "You can't be here! It's bad luck." Puck heard Rachel giggle._

"_Nah. It's only bad luck if you see me, and you're not going to. I just want to talk to you a little bit. Kurt tells me you've got a case of the jitters."_

"_Rach, babe, it's got nothing to do with you. I swear, I want to marry you more than anything. You gotta believe me." Finn was pacing a rut into the carpet and Puck was staring at him from across the room._

"_I know sweetie. It's fine. It's perfectly understandable to be nervous. Just come sit and talk to me for a while." Finn and Puck heard a rustle of satin and crinoline and the distinct sound of pearl buttons sliding down the other side of the wooden door._

"_Did you just sit on the floor in that dress?" Puck yelled through the door. "I swear Berry, if you mess up ONE of those buttons …"_

"_Oh calm down Noah, the buttons are fine. Besides, isn't the bride supposed to be the one flipping out over the dress?"_

"_Well, as man of honor, looking out for that stupid dress is part of my job. You give me a job and I'm gonna make damn sure to do it right!" Puck flung himself onto the couch along the wall of the dressing room and took a swig from the bottle Santana had provided._

"_Language Noah! We're in a church!" Rachel heard Finn's back hit the door and listened as he also slid to the floor. Her voice softened noticeably, "Hey baby. You doing okay in there?" She heard his head hit the door._

"_Rachel, I love you so much. And I really, really want to marry you. More than anything. But I'm not gonna lie, I'm kinda terrified of going out there and doing this in front of all those people. I mean, I'm gonna be up there, and they're all gonna be looking at me. Well, they'll mainly be looking at you, but I'll be right next to you, so they're gonna be looking at me too. And then there's the vows, and what if I mess something up? And this is your wedding day, and it's sposed to be perfect, and so what if I mess it up so bad you don't want to marry me anymore?"_

"_Oh sweetie," Rachel laughed softly, "there is nothing you could do …"_

_Puck jumped up and cut her off. "Oh for Christ's sake Finn. You've performed in front of tons more people than that before, people you didn't even know, in competitions, no less. And it's not like you have to dance down the aisle!" Puck laughed at his own joke and took another sip of the whiskey, dropping back onto the couch. "How can you be scared of this?"_

"_It's not the same," Finn mumbled so lowly that Puck could barely hear him._

"_It's not the same Noah," Rachel said, much more loudly, at the same time. "This isn't competing up on some stage with New Directions." Her voice softened again, "But Finn, darling, Noah does have a point. With New Directions, you performed in front of hundreds, maybe even thousands of people, and many of them were rooting against us. And I was right there next to you the whole time, just like I am today and I will be when we get married, whenever you're ready." Puck watched Finn nod, even though Rachel couldn't see him through the door, and couldn't help but laugh at his stressed-out friend. "But sweetie, you know what is different now from back then?"_

"_That was on a stage, in an auditorium?" Finn guessed, not sure where Rachel was heading. Puck shook his head at the couple and wondered where Rachel was going with this._

"_Right. That was on a _stage_. In an _auditorium_," she stressed the words. "And," she continued, "the people watching had a real respect for what we were doing. Even if they were there to see our opponents, they really got what we were doing up there and it was important to them. See what I'm saying?" Puck watched in confusion as Finn's eyes grew and he started nodding his head enthusiastically. When he jumped up, Puck jumped too, sitting up straighter on the couch. Somehow, it was as if Rachel could see Finn agreeing with her. "Ok, but Noah has to ride with me, alright? He is my maid …" Puck grunted loudly, "excuse me, _man_ of honor. I'll send Kurt back and you guys leave in five minutes, to make sure I've gotten enough of a head start. Sound good."_

"_Sounds awesome babe. I love you, you know that right?"_

"_I know sweetie. Love you back. Noah, let's get moving!" Puck was busy pouring Santana's whisky into the personalized flask Rachel had given him as a bridal party gift. He wanted to ask Finn what was going on, but his friend was already occupied adjusting his tie and jacket in the mirror, and he knew if he didn't get out to Rachel soon she would lose it on him. "Ok, we're going to ride with Mercedes, because I'm sure you've already dipped into that liquor Santana brought," Rachel was talking as soon as Puck shut the door behind him, "and besides, her SUV will be easier for me to get in and out of in this dress."_

"_Berry, I gotta be honest here, I have no idea what's going on." Puck admitted to his best friend as she dragged him down the hall toward the exit of the church._

"_Seriously Noah? How is it not perfectly obvious? Finn understood my meaning just fine."_

"_Yeah, well, you guys have like, your own language or something."_

"_Just hurry up," Rachel yelled over her shoulder, "there's Mercedes." Puck almost tripped down the stairs as Rachel pulled him to the car and opened the back door for him. She was already climbing in the front seat before he could even get his hand on the door. "Everybody on their way?" Rachel asked Mercedes breathlessly. "Our parents?" She looked around the parking lot for the Berrys or the Hummels._

"_Yeah, Mrs. Hummel grabbed some of the flowers decorating the sanctuary and the altar for Kurt's dad to take over in his truck, and your dads went to get your veil and all your old, new, borrowed and blue stuff. They're already on their way," Tina informed Rachel._

"_What about the guests? I hated dumping that on you, but did you guys get it straightened out? I mean, was everyone ok?" Mercedes shot Tina a look in the rearview mirror._

"_Well, about that …" Tina started, and Rachel looked at her anxiously. "Quinn volunteered to tell everyone, and we all thought it was a great idea, because who's gonna get mad at the pretty, soft-spoken blonde girl?"_

"_Yeah," Mercedes intervened, "so she gets up there and says something like, 'Rachel and Finn really appreciate all of you coming out to share in their special day and you all mean a lot to them, but unfortunately, I must regrettably inform you that there will not be a wedding here today'." Rachel nodded at her with big eyes, until Tina started talking again and Rachel turned her attention back to the backseat._

"_But they all just sat there, staring at her until some people started asking her all these questions, and they weren't all nice about it," Rachel groaned and dropped her head back against the headrest. Puck wanted to ask just what the Hell was going on, but he was afraid to interrupt in a car full of women._

"_So then Santana gets up there," Mercedes began, and Rachel shot up in her seat as if she had been slapped and Mercedes giggled. "And she says …"_

"_Wait wait wait! I'll show her the video on my camera!" Tina yelled._

"_You recorded it?" Rachel asked, a bit afraid of what might come next._

"_Well yeah, Santana was speaking in the front of a church, I wanted to capture it in case she like, burst into flames or something." Tina giggled and Puck laughed loudly. "Here," she held the camera up and Rachel leaned between the front seats while Puck craned his neck around her to see the small screen. Rachel held her breath as she watched Santana take her place at the altar._

"_Ok folks, here's the deal," Santana's voice filled the car and Mercedes sucked in a giggle at the memory, "basically Finny boy is nervous as fuck." Rachel gasped and covered her mouth. "And his future wife actually wants him to be comfortable, and you know, HAPPY, on his wedding day. So, we're making this a private party. Now you guys can all just go ahead and move it on over to the reception hall and get the party started, and if the happy couple feels like it afterward, they'll join you and you can all congratulate them and pretend to be happy for them there. Oh don't look at me like I just kicked your puppies, it's open bar. Now I've gotta go, I've got a wedding to get to. Padres, you're with me." The video stopped with Santana grabbing the reverend and the rabbi and pulling them toward the back of the church._

"_She called my rabbi 'padre'!" Rachel wailed._

_Puck stopped laughing long enough to wipe his eyes and say, "Really Berry, that's the part of this whole thing you're focusing on?"_

"_But Noah," she whined, "she called our rabbi 'padre,' doesn't that bother you even a little bit?" Puck just shrugged. "I mean, he's not a priest or a pastor or a reverend or anyone else you call 'father.' He's called 'rabbi!'"_

"_Yeah yeah, I get it. But apparently San got the job done," Rachel looked at Tina and Mercedes, who nodded in affirmation. "Now, would someone please tell me what in the world is …" Puck's voice trailed off and a look of recognition crossed his face as they turned toward the high school. He dropped his head back against the seat and scolded himself for not figuring it out sooner. After all, this was Finn and Rachel they were dealing with. "Berry, are you sure you want to get married in a high school auditorium?"_

"_It's perfect, don't you think? I mean, we wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for glee club and that auditorium. Finn is nervous because he's not comfortable being in that church with a bunch of people we really aren't even close to. I mean, yeah, they're our friends and family and stuff, but it's not like all you guys. But in that room, on that stage, with only people we really love, what is there for either of us to be nervous about?" Puck nodded and put a hand over the one that Rachel had on the back of the seat holding herself toward the back of the car. She was right; it made complete sense._

_When the car stopped in the school parking lot, Puck and the girls rushed Rachel to the green room to make sure her dress and hair and make-up were good and get all her little mementos from her dads while they waited for Kurt and Finn to arrive. The rest of the guests were waiting in the padded seats of the auditorium, but Rachel's dads and Quinn were in the green room._

"_Hey pumpkin. Everything good?"_

"_Yeah daddy, it's great. I told Kurt and Finn to leave five minutes after us to make sure there was no way we would run into each other. Finn was so adorably superstitious about seeing me before the wedding. As long as the wedding guests don't turn into a lynch mob on my groom, we're good to go."_

"_Ok sweetie. Well, we'll go wait at the entrance for them. The Hummels and Mrs. Schuester got everything ready to go, and Mr. Schuester even pulled the piano onstage, so as soon as the boys get here one of us will come get you and we can start." Rachel nodded and kissed her father on the cheek. _

"_Umm, Rachel," Quinn laid her hand on Rachel's arm once her fathers had left and the others pretended to be occupied with something interesting in the back corner of the room. "I know I need to go sit with the other guests, but I just wanted to apologize." Rachel tilted her head and looked at her kind-of-friend quizzically. She wasn't sure what Quinn had to apologize for. "I mean, I tried back at the church, I felt like I should do something for you guys since all the others had been back there helping you get ready, but I just didn't quite get it right. And then Santana got up there," Quinn rolled her eyes. "If I had done better, she wouldn't have had to scar your rabbi for life." Quinn looked at Rachel hopefully. She really didn't want any more tension between them. _

"_You have nothing to apologize for," Rachel placed her hand on top of Quinn's. "I know you tried, and I really appreciate it. We're just really glad you could make it, actually. And Santana's … well, she's just Santana." Both girls laughed as Quinn squeezed Rachel's arm gently then pulled her hand away. _

"_Congratulations Rachel. I am truly happy for both of you," Quinn left the room to go sit with her former classmates and Mercedes and Tina followed her out, giving Rachel a quick hug on the way. _

"_You ready for this, little girl?" Puck threw an arm around Rachel's shoulder and pulled her close to him. _

"_More than anything in the world," she looked deep into Puck's eyes and he knew it was true. _

"_Well, that's good, because it's time to go," Rachel and Puck both jumped at her father's deep voice. They turned to see the large African-American man standing in the doorway with just a hint of tears in his eyes. "I can't believe my little star is _getting married_. I love you little girl." Mr. Berry pulled his daughter close and kissed the top of her head. _

"_I love you too," Rachel whispered into his chest._

"_We ready to go give our girl away, Puckerman?" Mr. Berry looked at Puck._

"_I guess if we have to," Puck smiled at his friend and her father. They started to make their way out of the room when Puck noticed Rachel's lace and pearl veil sitting on the vanity. "Oh, you forgot this. See what a good man of honor I am?" Puck was proud of himself for doing his duties well._

"_I'm not going to wear it, but thank you Noah."_

"_You sure sweetie? You love that thing," her father stopped moving to look at Rachel. _

"_I don't have anything to hide from anyone in that room. Everyone in there sees me just as I am, and I love them for it. I want to be completely open." Her father and Puck both nodded in understanding and led Rachel the long way around to the back of the auditorium avoiding the stage, where Kurt and Finn were waiting._

_Mr. Schuester played Canon in D on the school's piano as Puck walked into the auditorium and down one of the side aisles. Refusing to do any of that girly bridesmaid crap while he walked down the aisle, Puck instead took the opportunity to flex his muscles and show off his guns a few times, drawing a laugh from everyone except the groom. Finn still looked mildly nervous and couldn't tear his eyes from the door he knew Rachel was waiting behind. As the tune changed to the traditional wedding march, the twelve guests and the six men on the stage, including the two religious leaders, all turned and watched expectantly for Rachel and her fathers to emerge. All except Puck, who was watching Finn._

_When the doors opened and Rachel stepped into the soft light flanked by her fathers, everyone smiled and a few gasped, taken aback a little by how incredible she looked. Puck saw that every ounce of tension seemed to leave Finn's body when he saw Rachel walking toward him. His body relaxed and his face showed nothing but pure joy. Satisfied with the reaction, Puck turned to Rachel. Even though he had just seen her moments before, the sight took his breath away. His best friend was more beautiful than he had ever seen her and knew it was all because of the man standing beside him. _

_Rachel had been a little worried that mixing the two religions might cause the ceremony to get a little confusing, but everything went perfectly. The bride and groom held one another's hands tightly the entire time and never broke eye contact, even when Brittany stood up to announce that even though she had no problem with Finn and Rachel getting married, she really wanted peace too and Santana clamped a hand over her mouth and dragged her back down to her seat. When the couple was pronounced husband and wife and Finn had successfully kissed his bride, dipping her almost to the floor in the process, Rachel told the officials that they could go back to the reception and inform any guests who had actually stuck around that the couple would be arriving shortly. Finn beamed at her and it was apparent that all of his nerves were gone. _

"_Hey Rach, you think we can do one more thing before we go back to all the others?"_

"_Whatever you want, husband," she giggled and rested her chin on his chest to look up at him, her arms wrapped lazily around his waist. He smiled broadly and kissed her on her nose. _

"_Think maybe we could have our first dance here before we go back to the reception? I mean, I know we're gonna dance more once we get there, and I will have to dance in front of them eventually, but I'd really like our first one to be here with just them." He looked at her pleadingly._

"_I think that sounds like an amazing idea," Rachel stood on her tiptoes to kiss him sweetly on the lips before going to talk to Mr. Schuester. As she walked away, Puck went to stand next to Finn. _

"_Congrats man," he nudged Finn with this elbow. "You guys are gonna be awesome. Really."_

"_I know," Finn replied seriously. "But thanks for saying it anyway." Both men laughed._

"_Mr. Schue went to get the music for us," Rachel sidled up between her two favorite guys and slid an arm around each of their waists. _

"_Ok everyone," Mr. Schuester announced, returning to the stage with a microphone after putting the cd in the sound system. "The newlyweds have one more request before we all move to the reception. They love you all so much that they want to share their first dance with only you." The guests clapped and a few whistled. The familiar tune began and Puck and Kurt made their way off the stage, leaving only Rachel and Finn in the spotlight. _

"_Highway run, into the midnight sun," Finn sang quietly into his new wife's ear as they danced in the spotlight, surrounded by their favorite people in the world._

"_One more time?" Rachel looked hopefully into Finn's eyes as the song drew to a close._

_He laughed at her excitement. "Whatever you want, Mrs. Hudson," he breathed the last two words into her ear. She squealed at the name and jumped into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. _

"_You are so getting lucky as soon as we leave that reception," she whispered as he lifted her off her feet in a tight hug. When he returned her to the ground she looked at Mr. Schuester and motioned for him to replay the song. "Come join us!" she shouted to their guests._

_On the stage, the couple's friends and family paired off to share a dance with the newlyweds. Rachel's fathers danced near Burt and Carol, trading comments on how happy they were for their children. Will danced Emma elaborately all around the stage, while Brittany and Santana swayed with one arm each looped around the other's shoulders and pinkies hooked together on the other hand. Lauren Zizes pulled Artie onto the stage and pushed his wheelchair around in circles, the closest she ever came to dancing. Mike and Tina clung to one another as if their lives depended on it; most of the current wedding guests were taking bets on when their wedding would happen. Deciding it was too awkward to choose between his two ex-girlfriends, Sam danced with Quinn on one arm and Mercedes on the other. There was an odd number of guests anyway, so it worked out. Puck was even a surprisingly good sport and fulfilled another of his duties as the attendant of the bride; he danced with the best man. Finn and Rachel looked around the stage at the people they loved more than anyone in the world and realized that they couldn't possibly have asked for a wedding more perfect than this one._

"So," Puck smirked at Natalie. She had tears threatening to spill out of the corners of her eyes, and Puck knew he totally won that argument.

"Ok. Well, I'm still not going to say they're meant to be together, because I don't really believe in that whole 'one person for everyone' thing, but they do seem like a pretty great couple. I mean, from the way you've described this Rachel chick, the fact that she would give up her dream wedding and the chance to be in the spotlight with everyone pretty much obligated to tell her how beautiful she looks is pretty awesome." Natalie rolled her eyes when Puck crossed his arms across his chest in satisfaction. "And while I still don't quite understand a 21-year-old guy's obsession with a 40-year-old band, Finn seems like a pretty good guy and an amazing boyfriend-slash-husband. But there is one thing I still don't quite get. If these two are so perfect together, and yeah, it seems like they are, why do you feel so compelled to go help them get it together? I mean, won't they just work it out together on their own time?"

"That would be ideal, yes, but they are both stubborn and hard-headed and too insecure about not being good enough for the other to admit that there is a real problem. By the time they actually straighten it out on their own, it might be too late." Puck realized that he had talked through the entire flight and they were about to touch down at JFK. More determined than ever after explaining Finn and Rachel's history to Natalie, he started feeling around in his pockets to make sure he had his keys and his cell phone and iPod, the only things he had brought into the cabin with him. As soon as the flight attendants announced that they could leave the plane, he jumped up. "Look Natalie, it was great to meet you, but I gotta go. I've got something really important waiting on me out there." Thanking God for his long legs, he stepped over her easily and made his way into the aisle.

"Umm, don't you need to get your carry-on?" Natalie asked, hoping for another minute or two to try to ignite that spark she had failed to light earlier. Surely a guy who was that invested in his friends' relationship would have to know how to treat a girl, even if it was just a fling. She hoped to be able to coax him into giving her his number, or at least taking hers.

"Didn't bring one. Nice to meet you." Puck was off the plane before she could retrieve her purse from beneath her seat.


	5. Chapter 5

**For the song: **_**Finn, **__Rachel,__**Both**__** – **_**All I'm gonna say for now. **

"Hey asshat, you just gonna stand there all day blocking the pick-up lane, or are you planning on making yourself useful any time soon?"

Finn stiffened at the voice behind him. Surely this jerk wasn't talking to him! "Excuse …" he spun on one heel to face the creep coming out of the airport. "Puck!" He laughed when he saw his friend and pulled him into a one-armed man-hug. "I thought you would be coming from that end," he motioned in the direction he had been facing when Puck exited the baggage claim.

"Yeah," Puck shrugged, "we had to come into a different gate because of congestion or something. Who knew planes had to deal with traffic? Anyway, you ready to get out of here? I've seen enough of airports and airplanes today. This your car?" Puck smirked and motioned to the Prius Finn had been leaning on when he first saw him.

"It's Rachel's, don't you remember? She's had it since senior year of high school." Finn placed Puck's suitcase in the car's trunk and went around to squeeze his large frame into the driver's seat.

"Oh yeah," Puck answered, sliding a bit more easily into the passenger's side. "I just didn't realize you guys still had it, kinda forgot about it. Who has a car in New York anyway?"

"Well, we thought about getting rid of it, but it was already paid for by the time we graduated and we thought it would be nice to have around in case we ever wanted to get out of the city or for stuff like this, when you or our parents come to visit. And we got a really good deal on a spot in a garage just a couple blocks away from the apartment, so it's really not any kind of imposition at all."

Puck was glad it was already dark out, because that meant Finn couldn't see him roll his eyes and shake his head. He knew that Finn's speech about the car was just one of his ways to avoid talking about what was really going on. He only rambled when he was nervous. No wonder these two were having issues. They wouldn't talk about anything that really mattered. "So, Rachel told me we had plans at some bar she liked, that one she worked at for a little while right after graduation?" He decided the best way to get to the point was to just dive in.

"Well, yeah, I guess. She planned it. But we don't have to go if you don't want to. It's not even really a bar, more of like a lounge, with tables and a stage. It's a Broadway joint. A lot of the performers go there to hang out and when they don't have someone specifically lined up to play the performers kind of put on impromptu shows. Really not your kind of place at all." Finn cast a sideways glance across the car, trying to tell through the dark if Puck was reconsidering. He wasn't sure why he was trying to talk him out of going there. It was one of Rachel's favorite places, and Finn actually did enjoy it most of the time. He had grown pretty fond of it during the six months she worked there between shows after graduation, before her theater work started picking up. He just felt awkward around Rachel lately, and throwing Puck into the mix after everything he had told him the previous week would probably not help matters any. Ever since the night she had walked out of the apartment crying and he ended up practically crying, pouring his heart out to Puck, he had barely seen his wife. The next day when he got home from work he found a note saying that she would be going in to work early for the next couple weeks and that she would usually be gone before he got home. He was upset, and part of him wanted to be angry with her, but something in his mind said, _'At least she left you a note. What do you do for her when you are going to be home late from the store?'_

"What do you mean 'not my kind of place?' Rachel called it a bar, which means they have alcohol, right?" Finn laughed and nodded at his friend. "And besides, I could really get into a place like that. I hear those Broadway chicks can be a real hot piece of ass. Kinky too. You know, all prim and proper up on the stage then they go let it all loose in the bedroom." Puck wiggled his eyebrows for effect.

"Dude! Watch it!" Finn punched Puck across the car. Puck knew Finn hated it when he made any kind of sexual reference to Rachel, and making a reference to 'Broadway chicks' definitely equated to making a reference to Rachel.. Puck just smirked back at his friend, pleased with his reaction. _'At least he's still got something going on up there,' _Puck thought. _'Things might not be as bad as I thought.'_

"Chill man, you know I'm kidding around. It'll be a good night. I just wanna hang out with my friends. Rachel wants to go to the bar; we'll go to the bar." Finn relaxed a little at Puck's apology.

"Well, good, cause we're here," Finn turned down a small alley and parked the car behind Rachel's favorite bar. The two friends walked around the corner to find the main entrance, making small talk about Puck's flights along the way. "Wait, so you had a seat next to some tall, blonde chick in a mini-skirt, and she was flirting with you, and you did _nothing_? Who are you and what have you done with Puck?"

Puck stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged, "I had my mind on other things." He let Finn hold the door for him as he entered the bar. Finn was right, it did feel more like a lounge than a bar. But it wasn't bad. And he wasn't exactly here for the ambience.

"Noah!" He almost fell backward when Rachel launched herself at him, catching him off guard. He hadn't even seen her coming. "How was your flight? Everything ok?" She pulled back from the hug to look him in the eyes, and he knew she was asking about more than the flight.

"Great. Everything just as planned." Puck watched Rachel visibly relax. Under other circumstances, he would have laughed at how completely 'Rachel' she was being, but this was actually important. He then watched her tense again as they broke their friendly hug and she turned to her husband.

"Umm, hey," she stammered without making eye contact. She reached out to tentatively place a hand on his forearm. "How was your day? Everything good at the store?" She finally looked up at him with nervous eyes.

"Fine," he answered quickly, looking around for a table. "Hey, why don't we go have a seat? There are some open ones over there." He started moving toward the table he spotted and Rachel's face dropped. She turned to look at Puck as if to say, 'See what I'm dealing with here?' He wanted to scream at Finn that he had no clue how good he had it. He wanted to tell him that would give anything for a girl like Rachel – well, not just like Rachel, since she kind of made him want to light himself on fire sometimes, but a Puck-compatible version of Rachel. All her faults considered, she was still a great wife and friend and an amazing person. She was the only girl who had ever considered him more than a jack ass with a body, and if she could be that great of a friend to him, when he didn't deserve any of it, then he could only imagine how awesome she was to her husband, who was actually great for her.

Letting Rachel walk a few steps ahead of him, Puck sighed and shook his head at the couple. If you asked him, all they really needed to do to fix this (not that he'd ever tell Rachel this, she'd skewer him with the closest sharp object) was to lock themselves in their bedroom for about 48 hours and fuc – _pound_ it out. He took a seat between his two best friends and looked around for a waitress. His whole 'no alcohol' plan was starting to feel like a bad idea. But before the waitress could get to their table, Puck's attention was drawn to the stage when he heard fumbling around the drum set and Rachel kicked him under the table. He pretended to stretch and discreetly, he hoped, dropped an arm behind Rachel's back and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.

"Ladies and gentlemen," even Finn looked up from his hands and turned to the stage when the emcee began to speak. "I am pleased to tell you all that we have a very special treat in store for everyone tonight. We have a bit of a rising star in our midst, a favorite of ours around here, and she's going to come up and do a little something for us. Rachel Hudson, get up here and show us what you got!" The bar staff and many of the regulars cheered loudly when Rachel's name was called. She lowered her head and smiled slightly, her face growing red. Puck squeezed her shoulder again, shocked that she seemed to be nervous. Rachel Hudson does not get nervous. She shot him a hopeful smile and stood up to make her way to the stage.

"Well Steve, thank you so much for that incredibly warm introduction. I'm not sure I deserve all that," she chuckled out of what sounded like modesty, but Puck knew it was all nerves. "But since I'm up here, and you guys seem to want to hear something from me, I'll be more than happy to oblige." The bar filled with cheers again, even more than the first time since many of the bar's patrons did not recognize her name but they recognized her face instantly. Puck watched Finn, and despite his best efforts to hide it, Puck could see the crooked smile and the look of pride that lit up his friend's face when the crowd cheered for his wife. Again, Puck was glad to see that Finn wasn't completely blind to what he had, and the fact that he had talked to Puck about it meant that he wasn't quite ready to lose it just yet. He wasn't as worried about Rachel, even from the beginning of all the drama, because she had made it perfectly clear from their first phone conversation that she was willing to do whatever it took to get her marriage back.

"But, there is one catch," Rachel continued, faking a very serious expression. "I will only sing if … I get some help! In the audience are my two favorite men in the whole world, my husband and love of my life, Finn Hudson," her face glowed and she looked at him sheepishly, hoping he felt the same way, "and our best friend, Noah Puckerman. The only way I perform is if they come join me." The spotlight swung to the table where Finn and Puck sat. Puck saw the look of shock on Finn's face. Puck jumped up quickly and played to the crowd, bowing and flexing various body parts, much to the amusement of the female, and many gay male, customers. Finn was slower to respond, but he finally stumbled to his feet and let Puck lead him to the stage. Rachel pointed Puck toward the back corner of the stage where she had placed his guitar, which he had sent to her via UPS a few days before. No way was he going to play some stranger's guitar. While Puck was getting ready, Finn looked at Rachel, obviously wondering what the Hell was going on. "Please," she mouthed to him, turning her head so that the crowd couldn't see her. He leaned down and placed his hand on the small of her back, kissing her on the cheek for the crowd's benefit. It wasn't that he didn't love his wife or that he didn't actually want to kiss her, he wanted it more than anything, but everything just felt so stressed and awkward between them lately. Rachel smiled up at her husband then turned back to her adoring public.

"Ok guys, I'm going to apologize in advance, no show tunes tonight," dramatic fake groans filled the bar. "I know, I know. But, I think you'll enjoy it nonetheless. I have a beautiful song by an amazing writer, and I'm really excited to share it with you." She turned to Puck to see if he was ready to begin and he shot her an encouraging wink. She looked at Finn to see if he was as ready as he could be, under the circumstances, and he was already waiting on the opposite side of the stage behind the second microphone stand.

Finn had absolutely no clue what was going on. And while to most people that would be alarming, he was kind of used to that feeling. He also felt like he had somehow been ambushed by his wife and best friend. But again, he was used to that feeling. Their ambushes never ended in anything bad; in fact they were usually pretty great. Like that time in the middle of fall semester freshman year when he and Rachel hadn't seen each other for almost a month and they wouldn't be seeing each other again until Thanksgiving. Puck had practically dragged him to a party that he really didn't want to go to because he and Rachel were supposed to have a Skype date, until they got in some stupid fight and she said she didn't want to talk him that night and she was just going to study and go to bed early. Then once they got to the party Puck picked a fight with him, about what he couldn't even remember, so he left after only 20 minutes with nothing to drink. When he stormed back into his dorm room after walking across campus in the rain, there was Rachel, on his bed, wearing next to nothing. That night he had the best make-up sex of his life, especially considering the "fight" that led up to it wasn't even real.

Finn wondered half-heartedly what song he was about to sing in front of a crowd of Broadway junkies, but he was sure that it would be some New Directions standby that his wife and his best friend had tucked away in their back pockets. As long as it wasn't "Need You Now," he was good. Well, he thought he was good. But when Puck strummed out the familiar chords on a guitar that, honestly, he had no idea was even there, Finn's stomach did a triple flip. He looked at his friend with his eyes blazing and Puck only stared solemnly back at him. Rachel was too busy staring at the floor and sliding her hands nervously up and down the mic stand to pay any attention to the interaction. Puck wasn't backing down, and the crowd was still waiting, so as the instrumental intro drew to a close, he gripped the microphone and somewhat timidly sang the words that meant so much to him.

_**We didn't care if people stared,  
>We'd make out in a crowd somewhere.<br>Somebody'd tell us to get a room,  
>It's hard to believe that was me and you.<br>Now we keep sayin that we're ok,  
>But I don't wanna settle for good not great.<br>I miss the way that it felt back then,  
>I wanna feel that way again.<strong>_

_**Been so long bet you forget  
>the way I used to kiss your neck.<br>**__Remind me,  
>Remind me.<span>__  
><em>_**So on fire and so in love,  
>Way back when we couldn't get enough.<strong>__  
><em>_Remind me,  
>Remind me.<span>_

The first time Finn heard Rachel's voice, he turned his attention from the crowd to his wife. She was still staring down at the floor, but her hands were now gripping the microphone tightly. And after he sang the next two lines and her voice came in again, a bit more forcefully this time, she looked up to make eye contact with him. Without realizing that he was moving, Finn pulled the microphone from the stand and took two steps toward his wife, closing the gap across the stage by a few feet.

_Remember the airport droppin me off,  
>We were kissin goodbye and we couldn't stop.<span>__  
><em>_**I felt bad cause you missed your flight,**__  
><em>_**But that meant we had one more night.**_

He wasn't really surprised when Rachel sang the next lines before he had a chance. They had always sung together so well, without having to discuss, or really even think about, who would do what. As he watched and listened to his wife sing the words he had written, his mind flashed back to the day she was supposed to be leaving for New York, a full week before he had to be on campus at Ohio State. She had convinced her dads to let him take her to the airport since they were going up only two weeks later to visit and take her to a show. He waited with her as she went through the ticketing line and turned over her baggage then walked her to security. He meant to give her one last kiss before she went through the line to go to her gate, but that one kiss turned into one hour of kissing and talking and reminding each other of all the ways they would keep their relationship strong. Before they knew what had happened, the big voice in the ceiling was calling for Rachel's flight to begin boarding. He had apologized profusely, and he really did feel bad, knowing she wanted to be there that night for some freshman mixer thing. But instead of getting upset or having a Rachel Berry meltdown, she said "There's another flight tomorrow at the same time. Didn't I see a hotel across the street?" Hoping that she was remembering the same night, he took over what he deemed to be his line before she sang the next one with him. The way she looked at him as they sang together told him that she most definitely was remembering that night. For a moment he felt like he had lost his voice and she continued singing the next verse.

_Do you remember how it used to be,  
>We'd turn out the lights and we didn't just sleep.<br>__**Remind me,  
>Baby remind me.<strong>__  
><em>_Oh so on fire and so in love,  
>That look in your eyes that I miss so much.<br>__**Remind me,  
>Baby remind me.<strong>_

_**I wanna feel that way,  
><strong>__Yeah I wanna hold you close.  
><span>__**Oh if you still love me,  
>Don't just assume I know.<br>**__Oh baby remind me,  
>Remind me.<span>_

Puck watched what was happening between his best friends with a sense of satisfaction. By the middle of the second chorus, both singers had made their way to the middle of the stage so they were standing less than a foot apart. Rachel was doing that thing where she got totally lost in the song and her emotions. Her eyes were closed and she was leaning slightly forward, bent both at her waist and her knees as she belted out each note as if her life depended on it. He didn't think she even realized that the hand not occupied by the microphone was over her heart clutching her blouse. Finn was staring at her like he was about to cry, cradling his microphone in one hand and using the other to cup her elbow and pull her even closer to him.

_Oh do you remember the way it felt?  
><span>__**You mean back when we couldn't control ourselves?  
><strong>__Remind me,  
><span>__**Yeah remind me.  
><strong>__All those things that you used to do,  
>That made me fall in love with you,<br>Remind me,  
>Oh baby remind me.<span>_

_**Yeah you'd wake up in my old t-shirt,  
>All those mornings I was late for work.<strong>_

Rachel saw the smirk on her husband's face and knew he was thinking about the same thing she was: sophomore year. It was his first year in New York, and his community college didn't have residence halls. Rachel had completed her first year at NYU's Tisch school and was now eligible to live off-campus, so the couple had found an apartment together halfway between the two. Two days after Finn's last final, when his grades for the year were officially released, they had celebrated even harder than they eventually did after their graduations. They were both terrified that he was going to fail his intro to business class because he was late for at least two of the class's three meetings each week. It was the only class either of them had before 11 a.m. and while they rarely slept past eight, it was somehow impossible to get out of bed in time for that 10 o'clock class. He blamed it on her, saying "Babe, I don't know how you can expect me to even think about getting ready for class when I look over and there you are, sexy legs all smooth and soft and sticking out of whatever shirt _I_ was wearing yesterday!" That was usually followed by him trying to prove his point by getting her out of his shirt. She argued that just because she happened to enjoy sleeping in his soft, worn-in, Finn-smelling shirts, that didn't mean he had to sacrifice his education by attacking her every morning. She usually then proceeded to run her fingers randomly over his bare chest and shoulders (she was wearing his shirt, after all) and kiss his neck and ears. Ok, so maybe they were both to blame.

_**Remind me,**__  
><em>_**Oh baby remind me**__._

There were a few more refrains of the chorus left, but the words didn't get sung. Finn gripped Rachel's arm tightly and pulled her into him then cradled her head in his hand and brought his lips down onto hers. She threw her arms around his neck, her microphone falling onto his back with a loud "thud." Puck sighed and walked over to the couple, taking both of their microphones out of their hands without saying a word. How did he always end up following behind, cleaning up after them? It wasn't the first time they had gotten caught up in the moment and kissed on stage, sharing their love and passion with the audience, an audience that actually seemed to enjoy the show this time around. Like the first time, they had everything to gain, but this time they had nothing to lose.

Puck went to shake hands with Rachel's drummer friend and thank him for his help in their little endeavor. After putting his guitar back in its case he turned back to center stage to find that his friends were nowhere in sight. He walked off the stage and headed back toward the table that he had shared with Finn and Rachel, but before he could make it there he was stopped by a breathless Rachel coming from the direction of the bar. "Address, cab fare, apartment key," she said, shoving her keys, some cash and a slip of paper into his hands. "Guest room is the first door on the right and the bathroom's at the end of the hall. You even _think_ about so much as _looking_ at the door on the left and you're a dead man, got that Puckerman?" She shoved her forefinger into his chest and tried to look stern, but there was no way he could miss the smile in her eyes. He nodded and she spun on her heel and headed for the door.

"Hey! Hudson!" She turned to look at him blushing at being called by her married name. Puck had never called her by just Finn's last name before. "Have fun," he winked at her.

"Thank you," she mouthed back. He knew she was thanking him for much more than his crude suggestion. 

**Obviously, neither Finn nor I can take credit for "Remind Me." That all goes to the amazing and talented Brad Paisley and his lovely partner Carrie Underwood. If you haven't heard the song, I beg you to go listen to it now. It was the inspiration for this entire fic – I got in my car one day a couple weeks ago, and when the radio came on it was about half through this song. It was the first time I'd ever heard it and by the time I got home, basically this whole story had flashed through my mind. But it's not over yet! Please stick around for a couple more chapters.**


	6. Chapter 6

Rachel purred as she ran her fingers over Finn's bare chest. "Well, that was …" Finn's voice trailed off before he could finish his sentence, one hand laced into her hair and the other tracing random words, such as their names, 'love,' and sometimes even 'sexy' or 'fuck,' which she giggled at when she could tell what they were, onto her thigh.

"Yeah it was," she giggled. After leaving Puck smirking behind her in the bar, Rachel ran outside to find Finn waiting with the car just out front. Even on the short drive back to their apartment, Rachel regretted keeping her car. If they had been in a cab they would be all over each other in the backseat right now. Probably not the safest option with Finn driving. She had hoped that getting Noah to help her sing that song with Finn would put them on the road to recovery, that it would make him realize how much she still loved him and wanted him and needed him, but she hadn't expected the kiss, or the way she felt, or the way he _looked_ at her. The second she had been able to tear herself from his lips, she ran to get her purse from her friend Carrie, who was tending bar. One quick conversation with Noah and one much too long (at least, it felt that way to both of them) car ride later, and here they were.

"It's been a while," Finn murmured, in the middle of writing 'amazing' along her left leg.

"I know," she tucked her chin into her chest so that he wouldn't see her face growing pink. It had been much too long. She had been telling herself that they were both just very busy, hardly ever together in the house anymore. And when they were both at home, they were just too tired. They both knew there was more to it than that. Yes, work had played a large role, for both of them, but they both privately thought back to college, when even during finals, both almost delirious with fatigue, they had always made time. Once they had become, well, _active,_ even Rachel had gone on and on about how important intimacy was to their relationship. Finn wouldn't deny the emotional connection when they made love, and he never got over that look of love and adoration on her face afterward, but he really believed that secretly, she was just horny. Not that it was a problem. He was more than happy to oblige. But now, they used the excuse that they were tired or didn't have time, when really they were each starting to feel isolated from the other, so they stopped making the time. And that of course made them feel even more isolated, creating a horrible cycle of awkwardness and loneliness. Finn leaned over to kiss the top of her head, inhaling her sweet scent at the same time.

"It's ok," he spoke into her hair. "We're gonna fix this. I'll do whatever it takes to fix it. I've missed you so much. I mean, I know you weren't really gone anywhere, but God I've missed you like crazy." He moved his hand from her leg to her waist, pulling her tighter against him.

"I quit the show," Rachel blurted out, before she had time to think about it anymore. Finn jerked his head back to look at her face, not quite believing what he had just heard. There's no way she just said she quit her show. That was ridiculous. Broadway had been her dream since before he even knew her. She was going to be a star! Sure, she wasn't exactly a _star_ in this show, there wasn't really a star, it was an ensemble cast (she taught him that word, it meant when a show was like 'Friends,' instead of, say, 'Dexter'). But it was her first real Broadway show, and she was starting to get recognized more and more, like at the bar earlier. It really seemed like she was on her way.

"I'm sorry, what?" he was looking at her like she had just grown an extra head, his lips pursed and his eyebrows furrowed tightly. He just knew he had misunderstood.

"I quit the show," she said again, much more quietly this time. "Are you mad?" she looked up at him, her eyes filled with worry.

"No baby, I'm not mad," he rested his arm on top of her pillow and brushed her bangs back from her eyes. "I'm just … confused. I mean, this is what you have wanted your entire life. All you've talked about since I met you is how you're going to be on Broadway and be a big star. And besides, you can't just quit in the middle of a show, won't that like, ruin your reputation?" He was starting to worry. Was there something wrong? Was she trying to tell him more than that she had quit the show, like, was she leaving or something?

"Well, first of all, it's not like I just walked out," she laughed nervously. She knew it wasn't a good idea to make huge decisions like that without talking to her husband about it, but she had done it for him, and it's not like they'd had time to talk about it anyway. "The show goes on hiatus in a couple weeks. I just told my director that I wouldn't be coming back after the hiatus. I have a really great understudy, she deserves to get her break anyway; he's going to give the part to her. I've already been working with her some. He was actually really good about it. I just explained to him that as much as I love my job, I love my husband more, and my marriage was suffering from the hours. He even helped me get a new job." She looked down at her hands, which were fiddling together on top of his stomach.

"Yeah?" Finn asked quietly. Did she see tears in his eyes?

She stretched up to kiss him lightly on the cheek. "Yeah. I'm working for a program run by one of the theater production companies. I go to a different high school each day of the week to work with the talented arts students during their last period and after school. That's why I've been leaving early the past week or so, I've been training with the person I'm going to replace. Oh, and during the summer I can work all day if I want to down at the community center and I can even run one of the day camps. The director said I could run an acting camp _or_ a singing camp, or even both if I was willing to put in the time. And I know I quit the show because of time, but the camp thing will be different because it will basically be the same hours as your store hours, so even though it might be kind of long hours sometimes, it won't take time away from us." She cupped his cheek lightly and looked into his eyes, "I don't want to do anything that is going to take away from us." She wasn't sure what kind of reaction she had expected, but it wasn't laughter, even if it was soft.

He saw her looking at him, horrified. He really hadn't meant to laugh at her, and he knew she must be thinking the worst, but that wasn't it at all. He just couldn't help himself. She was rambling like crazy, and it was adorable. "I have got to start keeping a video camera in this bedroom. I mean …" _'Oh God, that came out wrong.' _The look on her face was getting worse. He took a deep breath and tried again. "What I meant was, I wish you could see how cute you are when you get started like that. You get going on something you're passionate about and all of a sudden everything's just spilling out, one word on top of another. I don't mean to laugh at you, and I'm not really laughing _at_ you, I just love you so much and it makes me happy to see you like that." He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "So you're kind of excited about this new job, huh?"

"Yeah," she said thoughtfully. "I think I am." She hadn't realized how excited she was until she got to tell Finn about it. Maybe she hadn't been that excited until she got to tell him about it. All of her news got so much better when she shared it with him. That was just one of the things she had missed about him. "Do you think it'll be good? I mean, it doesn't pay as much as being in a show, but then again it's steady so even though my paychecks won't be as much each time, they'll be coming in regularly. That will be nice, right?"

"Baby, I think anything that makes you this happy is going to be amazing. As long as it's what you want." She smiled at him and he leaned down to kiss her gently. "But, I'm still a little confused. What happened to the 'Rachel Berry Dream?' Getting on Broadway, becoming a star, all that?"

"Well first of all, there is no Rachel Berry anymore. I'm Rachel _Hudson_ now, and don't you forget it mister." She emphasized each word with a mock-stern poke to his chest, causing him to laugh again. "But seriously, I did get to be on Broadway. And I'm sure I will again, once things are a little more settled here at home. I just think I won't make any more open-ended commitments. I think we'll handle it better if we both know I'm only tied to a few months, and besides, we won't be newlyweds anymore so maybe it will be easier. And if it's not easier, then I'll quit again. And as far as being a star, I am. You make me feel like a star every time you kiss me, or touch me, or look at me like _that._" She pointed up at his face, making him blush. "And not having that these past few months was devastating. I felt more like a star up there on that stage with you tonight than I have in all of my nights on a Broadway stage. Yes, I've always wanted to be a star, I just didn't realize that it would be enough to be a star to one person. And don't get me started on being a star in this bedroom …" She giggled as he started tickling her ribs.

Having finally collapsed on top of Rachel and settled his body between her legs after tickling her senseless, he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her chest, looking up to watch her wipe the tears from her eyes. "Rach, since we're on a roll here, I gotta tell you something too," Finn blurted out as she started to run her fingers through his hair the way he loved. She just looked back at him, waiting to hear what he needed to say. "I just think if we are trying to mend things here, and you are sharing things with me, I need to tell you everything too." Rachel felt her stomach twist into a tight knot. She didn't really think of her (possibly temporary) career change as a secret she had been keeping from him. She had only done it little over a week ago, the same night she had left their apartment in tears after trying to talk about their problems with him. She walked up to her director and just told him she couldn't do the show anymore, then asked if he knew of any other jobs she could do that would keep her in the business in even a small capacity. She had explained what was going on at home, and how she just felt like she needed to have more traditional hours and spend more time with her husband, and her director, who had always liked her, had been very understanding. So what could he have to share with her? What had he not been telling her?

Sensing Rachel's apprehension, Finn rolled off of her and propped himself up on one elbow at her side, leaving one arm draped across her waist. "I hired an assistant manager for the store." He let the words slide out, hoping she would relax after hearing them. He at least hoped it wouldn't be a bad thing. Her body instantly relaxed and a smile lit up her face as her fingertips grazed across his face.

"What made you do that? I mean, you've basically been running the whole place on your own for the past year, ever since Joe made you a manager. And then since you bought him out, you've done everything yourself. Why are you hiring someone now?" Rachel wasn't upset, it was his business; he was free to do as he pleased with it. But just as he had been with her Broadway decision, she was shocked. He took his first business class because he really had no clue what he wanted to do with himself and it seemed like a good option to fill up some space in his schedule. But as time went on and he started taking more and more business classes, he found that he really enjoyed them. He liked the idea of being in charge of something, of having something that was his own to make or break. And of course, there was Burt, who also owned his own business, and Finn really looked up to Burt. Once he got the idea into his head, there was no getting it out.

It almost felt like fate that he landed a part-time job in a music store. The owner had fallen in love with him immediately, taking him under his wing and teaching him every part of the business. When he let Finn almost completely take over as manager, Finn managed to land a contract with several of the local school districts, supplying them with all their band and orchestra needs. That had been an especially big blessing when the owner's wife got sick and he cut the store's operating hours so that they closed at six each night. Finn had insisted that he would stay late himself and keep it open, but Joe had refused, saying that he would never forgive himself if Finn's beautiful new wife sat at home alone after dark because of his store. When Joe's wife recovered and Joe retired to travel the country with her, Rachel was almost positive that Joe had sold the store to Finn at a loss simply because he couldn't stand the idea of anyone else taking it over. At first it had been the best thing that ever happened to them, but once Rachel got what they thought would be her big Broadway break, Finn started spending more and more time at the store trying to make sure everything was perfect, often not coming home until right before Rachel had to leave for the theater, or even after. He had never told her because he didn't want to bring her down with his problems, but Finn got scared when she got that role. He had always worried that one day she would realize what he already knew, which was that he was nowhere near good enough for her. In the back of his mind he convinced himself that maybe if he worked harder and made his store absolutely perfect, he would be what she deserved.

"Well, the day after …" he couldn't finish his sentence. Every time he remembered the way her face looked when had walked in the door that day he wanted to punch something. "Anyway, I just wanted to come home as soon as I closed the store. I wanted to rush home and see you and try to talk this thing out, but I forgot I had a meeting with my accountant. So, I'm sitting there, and we're talking, and he's telling me how great the store is doing and spitting out all these ideas of things I could do with the money to potentially make even more, and all I can see is your face and all I can hear is you asking me what happened to us. So, I asked him if I could afford to hire an assistant manager. He wasn't happy about it," Finn chuckled, "I think he was having more fun imagining spending my money than I would. But he did the numbers several different ways and it will work out. My bring-home pay each week shouldn't even change, unless something really drastic happens. Now, it's only part-time," Finn looked at her, searching her eyes to make sure she understood that he wasn't going to let someone else take over his store. "But it means I won't have to close every single night anymore, and I can actually have some weekends off without having to close the store altogether. I'll still have to work late some-," he was cut off by Rachel climbing onto his lap and covering his mouth with hers. Finally coming up for air after tangling his hands into her hair to hold her mouth to his as long as possible, he laughed. "I take it you approve."

"It's your business, and I know you're an amazing businessman. You don't need my approval," she snorted, "you wouldn't want it; I'm nowhere near as good as you when it comes to that stuff." He stared at her in disbelief. Did she seriously just say she wasn't as good as him at something? And she wasn't wearing her 'I'm lying because I want to make you feel good about yourself' face. He had spent so much time being insecure about not being good enough for her that he couldn't see how much she admired how great he was at what he did. Another thing he had missed out on because he was too busy. "But I'm on board with whatever you want to do with the store, if that's what you're asking."

"Rachel, I'm sorry I've been neglecting us for work. I just got a little freaked out when you got that role because I felt like you were doing so much better than me. You've always been better than me, but that just made it so glaringly obvious. So I just wanted to make everything absolutely perfect at the store, I thought that would make you proud of me. And then once I started, we started to become distant, and I just felt like crap about it, so that made me stay even more. But that's over. You're the most important thing in my life and nothing comes before us." Seeing the tears starting to form in her eyes Finn pulled his wife to him again, kissing her slowly and deeply, something they had both been missing for weeks.

Resting her forehead against his, she stroked his cheek with her thumb. "Baby, I've always been proud of you. You don't need to do anything special for that. And don't you ever, _ever_ say I'm better than you. You are perfect, Finn Christopher Hudson. Perfect for _me_." He pulled her to him by squeezing his arms around her waist and buried his face in her shoulder. "I just want to make sure this is what you really want. I mean, you're positive you can afford it, right? I'm not worried about the money, we have plenty saved up, and if we have to change things up a little I'm perfectly ok with that. But I don't want you to feel like you're losing something because of me."

"Don't worry. I already told you, my accountant worked it so it will be fine. My check will barely change, if at all. And even if I was losing a little, it's not like we ever got to do anything with the money I made anyway, we were both too busy. And even if I was losing a lot, it wouldn't matter if it meant we got to spend more time doing this." He rolled her over quickly and pinned her hands above her head, planting kisses over her jawline and down her neck, stopping when he hit the hollow of her collarbone. "And besides," she whimpered quietly when he removed his lips from her skin, "the trip's already paid for, so it's all good."

Almost forgetting the torture he just subjected her to, she cocked her head and looked at him, confused. "Trip? Sweetie, what are you talking about?"

"Well babe, I know I told … Did I forget to tell you? Gosh, I can be such a doofus," he slapped his forehead with his palm. Still hovering over her and supporting his weight on one arm, he leaned over to pull something from the drawer of his nightstand. Hiding something behind his back and grinning at her like the cat who ate the canary, he leaned in so that the tip of his nose brushed hers. "We, my dear, are going on a honeymoon. I would say 'second honeymoon,' but since we didn't really have a first one, I'm just calling it our honeymoon." He whipped a folder from a travel agency out from behind his back as he rolled off of her, knowing that she would immediately want to take the folder and study its contents.

"Oh my God Finn!"

"Now, I feel like I've heard that before tonight …" he smirked at her as she swatted his arm with the folder.

"Is this for real baby?"

"Of course it is Rach, look, there's the plane tickets, hotel confirmation, and a shitload of brochures for stuff the travel agent thought we might like." He pulled out the travel pamphlets for their resort and the surrounding areas in Crete and spread them across her lap. "Although I'd be more than happy never leaving the room …" He brushed his lips across her shoulder as he pushed her hair back.

"This is great! I can't wait to start making plans. First …" he rolled his eyes and fell back onto the bed, but he was smiling. He should have known he wouldn't be able to tear her away once he let her in on his plans. He kind of stopped listening, letting her plan whatever she wanted. He wasn't lying when he said he didn't care if they never left the room.

Rachel was shocked. She never expected something like this. Even with their problems, she had never forgotten that Finn was an amazing man and an amazing husband, but she was still amazed that he would go this far to do something for her. Realizing that she had been rattling on about all her plans for quite a while now while he just lay back listening with a smile on his face, or probably not listening, but that was ok, she dropped the brochures and turned to pounce on her husband. Obviously surprised, Finn's eyes flew open when he suddenly straddled him and ran her fingers down his chest, planting kisses in their wake. "So, I guess you deserve some kind of reward for being such an amazing. Thoughtful. Considerate. Loving. Sexy." She had been punctuating each word with a kiss, each one falling lower on his torso until with the word 'sexy' she tugged on his boxers and placed a kiss where the waistband had been. His head shot up to stare at her, wide-eyed, wondering if she was really about to do what he thought she was about to do. It didn't happen that often, but when it did, it was like all his birthdays, both graduations, plus the barn raising scene in 'Witness' all rolled into one. "Husband," she finished. He grabbed her hair involuntarily as his eyes closed and his head fell back onto the bed. _Oh yeah, she totally was._


	7. Chapter 7

Puck thrust all the money Rachel gave him at the cab driver, telling him to keep the change. It was one hell of a tip, but hey, it wasn't his money! That should teach her to abandon him in some Broadway joint his first night in town. Ok, so he didn't care all that much, in fact he was pretty happy about the way things had turned out, but that wouldn't stop him from giving her a hard time about it. Looking back at the paper Rachel had given him, he assumed that "6F" meant their apartment was on the sixth floor. "Of course," he scoffed, looking around the lobby of the apartment building. Rachel probably intentionally found a building with no elevator; she was kinda psycho like that about working out. He had to admit though, it paid off. His friend was hot, and he would even say it in front of her husband. He was the only person who could get away with saying it in front of her husband.

Exiting the stairwell, Puck's suspicions were instantly confirmed when he saw the Hudsons' apartment directly in front of him. He would have known it was theirs without the help of the number over the door. Come to think of it, where was the number over the door? Rachel seemed to have forgotten that she lived in an apartment in Manhattan and not a house in the country. On the door was a wreath made of grapevine and an assortment of brightly colored summer wildflowers. He laughed to himself, thinking about how she probably changed the thing for every season or holiday. Above the door where the number should have been, or was probably just hidden, was a wooden plaque with the words "The Hudsons" and various music notes (and of course a star) engraved into it. Under his feet was a very soft mat that simply said "Welcome" in scrolling yellow letters set on a midnight blue background. He realized as he hesitated outside the door that he had never actually been in this apartment before. He had been to their old apartment several times, but they had moved once they graduated and got married. He tried to prepare himself for the disorientation of walking into a dark apartment that he was unfamiliar with. At least, he hoped it would be dark. If it wasn't dark that would either mean they were fighting or that they were, well, _definitely not fighting_. He really didn't want to walk in on either.

He fumbled with the keys Rachel had given him, trying to decide which one looked like a house key. Why the hell did she have so many keys? Finally picking the one that looked the most promising, Puck gave it a try in the door. _Jackpot._ He pushed the door, but found slight resistance, like the door was dragging on something. He pushed harder and the door popped open. He had only made it two steps inside when he tripped over something, only able to maintain his balance because he still had one hand on the doorknob. Squinting in the faint light coming from the night light by his ankle, Puck was able to make out the outline of a high heeled shoe, its mate laying about a foot ahead of him. _'It's not like Rachel to leave her shoes lying around on the floor,'_ he shook his head as he turned to close the door behind him. That's when he saw what the door had been caught on: another shoe, a much larger, more masculine shoe. _'Oh shit,'_ it was starting to dawn on him why there were shoes everywhere, especially when he saw the pink blouse Rachel had been wearing in a puddle at the entrance to the living room.

Puck wanted to be annoyed, or frustrated, or even disgusted, but all he could do was smile. No, he didn't want to picture what was going on at the other end of the trail of clothes he knew led down the hallway (well, he really hoped it led down the hallway and not just to the living room), but it comforted him to know that something was going on. The only remaining question was, _'Is it still going on?'_ The apartment wasn't exactly huge, and Rachel had made it sound like the guest room was pretty close to the master bedroom. Sure, their little mini concert earlier had been nice, but he didn't need a private show. Deciding to suck it up and just go for it, he closed the door behind him and shucked off his own shoes next to Finn's. Cradling his guitar close to his body with both hands, careful not to bang it against something in his unfamiliar surroundings, Puck made his way toward the living room. He was thankful to see that the kitchen was large and open to his right, leaving no option but to take the hallway to the left. What had Rachel said to him? Right, guest room on the right. The room on the left is a death trap.

Puck cringed when he reached the hall and heard a noise coming from one of the rooms. So much for hoping they'd be asleep by now. But as he made his way as quietly as possible to his room, he heard the distinct sound of laughter, Rachel's laughter. _'Ouch, sorry buddy,'_ it couldn't be good to have the woman you're with laughing at you, not that he would know of course. But he paused, reaching for the guest room door, when he heard Finn's laughter follow Rachel's. Surprised, he accidentally let his guitar slip to the floor, banging loudly. _'Shit,'_ he buried his face in his hand.

"Noah?" Rachel called to him from inside the room.

'_Shit!'_ "Uhh, yeah, I'm sorry. I'm just going to bed. I-I'll see you guys in the morning," he cursed his clumsiness as he again reached for the door.

"Don't be silly, come on in."

"What about your death threats?" He scoffed at her.

"Oh stop it," Rachel chided her friend. "Come celebrate with us!"

"I don't know Rach, I mean you are a hot Jew, and Finn's my boy and all, but …" Puck heard Finn laugh, followed by a grunt, which was probably the sound of him getting whacked in the stomach by his wife's small but forceful fist.

"Don't be so crass Noah. Just get your Mohawk in here before I have to come get you myself." Puck sighed and set his guitar gently on the floor. He knew Rachel, and if she was being this persistent, there was no way he was about to walk in on anything. Still, he opened the door slowly, giving them every possible second to cover up anything that needed covering. Finn was wearing a pair of flannel pajama pants and lying on his back at the foot of the bed, his knees bent over the edge so that his feet rested on the floor. Rachel, in nothing but an old McKinley High football t-shirt, sat next to him on her knees with her bottom resting on her crossed ankles while Finn's hand ran over her back. They were surrounded by colorful papers, one of which Rachel seemed engrossed in.

"Yeah, what's with the Mohawk anyway? I thought you'd have gotten rid of that thing by now." Finn put his free arm behind his head and propped it up to look at his friend.

"Are you kidding me?" Puck smirked and ran a hand over his trademark hairstyle. "Thing's a chick magnet, I'm keeping it as long as I possibly can."

"Yet I see you're alone now," Rachel smirked back at him. Most times she abhorred Noah's cavalier attitude toward women, but when she was in the right mood it was a lot of fun to play back with him. Finn reached and squeezed her side at the comment, appreciating his wife's feistiness.

"Hey, you should appreciate that! I had plenty of offers," actually, he hadn't paid any attention to any women. He was still preoccupied thinking about Finn and Rachel. "But I wouldn't bring some random chick back to your home."

Finn shot him a warning glare, knowing before she even spoke that Rachel would instantly remember. "Annie! Freshman year!" Rachel shot up onto her knees and pointed an accusing finger in Puck's direction. "I couldn't even come back to my own room and celebrate opening night with my boyfriend because it was OCCUPIED!" Finn's look at Puck had changed from one of warning to one of sympathy on account of his wife's temper, then one of annoyance as he remembered how he did not get to spend that night the way he had planned.

"Hey, that was different," Puck tried to defend himself. "It was …" ok, so maybe he couldn't think of how it was different. "Anyway, I ended up just talking to Kurt and Blaine for a while then they took me to this cool little diner for a late-night snack. Travelling all day made me hungry as Hell," he snorted.

"Kurt and Blaine were there?" Finn looked at Rachel for confirmation as she settled back into her spot beside him. She simply smiled and nodded. He shouldn't have been surprised, it had become one of Kurt's favorite places the first time Rachel took him there.

"Yeah," Puck rolled his eyes. "But you didn't stick around long enough to find out. Anyway, Blaine's kinda cool. And Kurt's not horrible I guess," he conceded. "So, what is all this stuff?" He motioned to the brochures all over the bed.

"Oh!" Rachel bounced on her knees as Finn pushed himself to sit up next to her. "Finn's taking me on a second honeymoon! He says it's just a regular honeymoon, but I say our first one still counted, even if it was only a few days in Cincinnati. There was a big festival going on and we had a lot of fun. And I'm pretty sure we definitely accomplished the goal of a honeymoon." Finn blushed as Rachel squeezed his leg and Puck laughed at his rambling friend.

"I'm taking my girl to Greece," Finn beamed as he pulled Rachel onto his lap and she nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck. "Come look," he tossed Puck a brochure and Puck grabbed the bench from the small upright piano in the corner of the room and pulled it to the foot of the bed to sit across from his friends. _'Wait, how do they have a piano in the bedroom? ´ _The apartment was small; he would have been surprised to see a piano in the living room. He looked around; bed, piano in one corner, drum set in the other, only one nightstand. There was no dresser, no vanity table, nothing other than the bed itself to suggest the room was a bedroom. _'Go figure.'_ He flipped through the first brochure Finn had tossed him while Rachel gathered the rest from the bed, straining because Finn refused to loosen his grip on her waist.

"So," Finn began as Puck was flipping through the third pamphlet and trying to ignore the next one Rachel was thrusting at him. "It seems that you and my wife have been conspiring behind my back." He smirked at his friend with one eyebrow raised, waiting for Puck's response.

"Hey man, little diva over there called _me_," Puck defended himself to his best friend. Rachel blushed when he pointed at her, "the day after you and I talked, and she was a wreck. She basically told me everything you had told me, but she was just a complete mess. She begged me for help, and you know I can't turn her down when she needs me. Only person loves her more than me is you," he scoffed, trying to get back on track and not let his friends see that side of him. "And besides, you two clearly needed the Puckasaurus to come in and clean up after you, like usual." He scoffed, trying to keep the atmosphere light. "I was just going to try to talk some sense into you both when I visited, but then she found the song …"

"Yeah, how did you find my song? Were you snooping on me?" Finn cut him off. He didn't look mad, but he was staring at Rachel and he certainly looked confused. Puck stood from the piano bench and took a few steps away from the bed, worried that he had messed things up after the pair had just seemed to be back on track to being the couple that made him believe in relationships again.

Rachel only laughed, causing Finn to look even more confused, but still somehow happy in the process. "Sweetie, we live together. As in, _we share a home._ You can't even hide birthday presents from me. While I was talking to Noah I got in the desk to get my notepad and make a list, you know, of things that I could do help bring you back to me," Puck shot Finn a look that said _'Of course she did,'_ but Finn didn't seem to notice. He was too busy fawning over Rachel, kissing her jaw and brushing his nose across her cheek as she spoke. "When I pulled out my notepad, there it was, right underneath. I couldn't snoop on you if I tried, you're too easy." She giggled and kissed her husband on the forehead.

"Besides," Puck said dismissively, dropping back onto the bench now that everything seemed to be safe, "her plan was WAY better than yours." Finn's head shot up.

"What are you talking about Noah?" Rachel ran a hand down Finn's chest. "I think Finn's honeymoon plan is an amazing idea!" Finn pulled Rachel into his chest, but kept his eyes glued to Puck, willing him not to say more. Unfortunately, Puck didn't seem to get it. Either than, or he wanted to embarrass Finn. Either option was equally likely.

"Nah Rachel," Puck laughed. "That's not the plan I'm talking about. I didn't actually know about that one." Rachel looked at Finn's now crimson face trying to determine what her friend was talking about. "When you sent me Finn's song, I already had it. He had already sent it to me."

"Liar!" she yelled, causing Finn to jerk his head away from her mouth. "I should have known you wouldn't be that good after only one day!"

"Hey babe, I'm always that good," Rachel rolled her eyes as Puck smirked at her. "_Anyway,_ point of the story is, Finn's big plan was to get the song into the hands of some industry big shots, then get it recorded by some famous artist, _then_ tell you about it. Not that your song's not good enough buddy, but that shit takes way too long. I was all over the missus's plan as soon as she pitched it to me. Anything to get you guys back to being Finchel again."

"Noah," Rachel groaned, "I have begged you not to use that stupid nickname."

"Yeah," Finn added, "and Rach won't let me eat snacks this late." Puck could have sworn Finn was pouting.

"But sweetie," Rachel turned back to Finn and Puck may as well have been gone, "your song was perfect, and I wouldn't have wanted to hear anyone sing it other than you." After a sweet, tender kiss to her husband's lips, Rachel turned back to her best friend. "Ok, we didn't ask you in her to tattle on us," she tried to kick Puck from where she sat, but she was too short, "we asked you to celebrate. Go grab your guitar!"

"Umm, hate to disappoint you babe, but it's two in the morning and this is an apartment building. I don't think your neighbors would appreciate a jam session right now." Puck knew his friends had been occupied for the last few hours, but seriously?

"Nah man, it's cool," Finn reassured his friend.

"We live in what my husband so eloquently calls an 'artsy-fartsy' building"

"Yeah, pretty much everybody in this building is either in some kind of arts profession, a couple of Rachel's cast mates live here, or they're in school to be. It's actually kind of unusual for someone not to be playing music all hours of the night. I remember the night we moved in, the upstairs neighbors were going down the stairs as we were moving our last box up, so they invited us to come up for an end-of-the-school-year celebration. After all the moving we'd done that day, we were thrilled to go party for a while." Finn laughed a little at the memory and squeezed Rachel's thigh. "My girl ended up having a _bit_ too much to drink that night. We were barely back in our own front door before she had rip-."

"Finn!" Rachel interrupted breathlessly. "We have company, you don't need to share that story. _It's private,"_ she added in a whisper, her face glowing at the memory of attacking Finn before their door was even closed, tearing his belt from his pants before he could remove his shoes. Suffice it to say, they found the nearest sturdy surface and christened the kitchen their first night in their new home.

"His point is," Rachel continued for Finn, "no one is going to mind if we celebrate with a song. We respect each other, no one makes a peep during finals out of deference to the students living here, but other than that we are all artists at heart, and no one complains. If anything, we might end up with people at the door wanting to join us before it's over. So go! Get your guitar!" Giving in, it was their apartment and their problem if they got in trouble so why should he care, he went to get his guitar from the hall.

When he came back into the room, Rachel had moved the piano bench and was poised to play while Finn sat behind his drums, twirling the sticks between his fingers. "So, what are we going to play?" he asked as he looped the guitar's strap around his neck. Rachel gasped and Finn's jaw dropped. He began to worry that his fly was open or something from the way they were staring at him. "What?" he snapped.

"Do you really need to ask that question?" Rachel scolded.

"Dude!" Finn stared at his friend in amazement.

"Ok, so I guess I'm sposed to know this already," Puck lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck, but dropped his hand and his head at the same time as the realization hit him. "Ok, ok," he rolled his eyes. "Go Rachel." Rachel's fingers tickled across the piano, playing the notes that had always been sung by their New Directions team mates. Finn led in the vocals, as always.

"_Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world, she took the midnight train going anywhere."_

"_Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit, he took the midnight train going anywhere," _Rachel sang what was generally acknowledged to be her line just before Puck joined with his guitar, doing a bad ass job, if he did say so himself.

"_A singer in a smoky room," _Puck turned to smile at Rachel when he felt her hands on his shoulders as she stretched up to place her face next to his and joined him for the next line. _"The smell of wine and cheap perfume," t_hey both turned to Finn as they heard the drums and he joined them, _"for a smile they could share the night, it goes on and on and on and on."_

Puck couldn't erase that stupid, goofy smile from his face as he played and sang with his two best friends. Rachel danced around him, spinning in circles and teasing his Mohawk with her hands before she eventually planted herself on Finn's lap behind his drums. When the song ended Puck collapsed onto Finn and Rachel's bed and watched his friends act so sickeningly sweet on the stool that he should want to throw up. He should, but he didn't. He thought about everything he had experienced with these two, and he felt a peace fall over him as he closed his eyes for a moment, thinking, _'This, _this _is how it should be.'_

**So, there it is. Please, please, please review. I really want to know what you think.**


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